


The Gold Paladin

by MidnightBlack227



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adventure, Dreams, Fantasy, Gen, Longstory, OC, chapters, differentdimensions, klance, longchapters, sixthranger, verylongchapters, visions/omens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 13:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 44,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12865599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBlack227/pseuds/MidnightBlack227
Summary: With Zarkon defeated, but Shiro missing, the Paladins scramble to reassign lions. Then Allura tells them about the Gold Lion, which is called to help the five. But is Gold strong enough? Is her paladin to be trusted?





	1. Golden

Keith was angry. Extremely angry. Angry at everyone. Lance for being so oblivious. Hunk for being so nice. Shiro for being gone. Pidge for being so smart. And himself, for allowing the black lion to choose him. A white-hot rage filled him as he pushed past Lance and Pidge, who called after him, trying to reason with him.

So many thoughts raced through his head.

Why am I piloting the Black Lion?

Why did Shiro choose me?

Will I be a good leader?

I don't want to be the leader.

Why did the black lion choose me?

Maybe some fighting would help.

He stormed up to the training deck, threw off his red jacket, and pulled out his bayard. It extended into his familiar red sword.

"Begin training sequence level five," Keith growled. "Let's see what you have for me today."

The familiar yellow menace sprung up from a panel in the floor. Keith squared off against him. The fighter rushed at him, weapon waving madly. Keith summoned all his anger and rolled easily to the side, jabbing at its exposed side. However, the fighter had other ideas. It dodged his blow narrowly and popped back up into a square stance. Keith yelled in fury and charged at it. He slashed and stabbed, but the yellow annoyance avoided and countered his every move. It seemed to taunt him, letting him have many opportunities to finish it, then springing back out of range.

Keith was getting tired. Sweat blurred his vision, but he blinked it away, his black-gloved fingers tightening around his Bayard. He panted in exhaustion. The fighter rushed at him again and Keith summoned his last burst of strength, knocking its blade aside. The fighter's blade clattered across the room, and it ran towards it.

"No, you don't!"

Keith stormed at it and slashed his sword clean across its face, disabling the training. The fighter was swallowed up by the floor panel and Keith lay there panting. While he caught his breath, his anger dissolved, replaced by an overwhelming sadness. For no reason. Suddenly, footsteps sounded, crossing the floor.

"Hey, Keith."

Keith looked up. Lance was standing a few feet away from him.

"Oh, hey Lance."

Keith remembered his outburst, he recalled pushing Lance away from him, telling him he never wanted to see his face again.

Lance looked concerned. He took a step forward. "You okay, man? You seemed pretty mad about having to pilot Black."

Keith fought the urge to tell him to go away. He sat up. "No, I'm fine. It's just, you know, Shiro-"

"I know, you think Shiro should have chosen someone else, blah blah blah, I'm not a good enough leader, blah blah blah." Lance finished for him.

Keith grinned a small smile. "Yeah." He sighed. "I guess I just need time to soak it all in..."

Lance helped Keith up. "Well, I came to see you because Allura wants to see you. I think you know why." Lance explained.

Keith groaned. Lance grinned.

"Well!" He patted Keith on the back, something that made Keith jolt. "Have fun! Don't make her mad, and," Lance's voice dropped to a whisper. "Try to find out if she likes me."

Keith rolled his eyes. That was so Lance.

"I'll try..." Keith murmured.

Keith fretted nervously in the elevator up to Allura's hall. He guessed the conversation was probably going to be about his outburst, controlling his anger, blah blah blah.

The doors of the elevator opened with a hydraulic whoosh. He stepped out into the hall. Allura sat in a chair at the end of it and gestured for Keith to sit, too.

"Keith," Allura began. "About today-"

"Yes, I know, I'll try to control my anger next time, and I know you're upset about Shiro. We all are. But I'll try to be a good leader."

Allura seemed surprised. "That's not what I meant."

"It-it isn't?"

"No. Lance didn't tell you, but I've been chosen to pilot the blue lion. So Lance will pilot Red. Is that ok with you?"

The thought of Lance doing backflips and dive rolls in Red made him grin.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm just not sure how to pilot Black. I mean, it should be the same, but what if it's different?"

"Well, it probably won't be, it'll just be bigger and stronger."

Keith nodded.

Allura pulled up a screen near her chair, and Keith leaned over to it.

"Now, the second matter to take care of is my piloting skills. I've only flown the castle, and the pod a few times. I may not be very good at first, so if we have to go on a mission, we'll need backup."

Allura typed a few things into the database, and it pulled up a map. It displayed a green planet, which had visible mountains and cliffs. The ID tag at the bottom declared the planet's name: Kty'hipta.

"Interesting name." Keith murmured.

Allura took a deep breath. "You know the story of how the lions and Voltron were created, right?"

Keith nodded.

"Well, when my father was first experimenting with them, he created one lion, the Gold lion. It had no paladin." Allura continued.

"After the five Paladins formed Voltron for the first time, my father wanted to see if the sixth lion, Gold, could be part of Voltron. For some reason, it cannot form Voltron, but it has the properties of a lion. When Alfor scattered the lions, he put this one on this planet, Kty'hipta."

"So, we'll have an extra lion to fight with us?"

"In theory, yes. King Alfor had an alliance with this planet, but when Zarkon declared war, the people of Kty'hipta refused to help. Not many Kty'hiptans know of Gold's location, but the royal family knows. We will journey to the planet and retrieve the lion."

"Who will pilot it?" Keith questioned "Coran?"

Allura seemed taken aback by this idea.

"Quiznak, no! The Kty'hiptans enchanted Gold so only they could fly it. Why I know not, but this was thousands of decaphobes ago. I have scheduled us to arrive on Kty'hipta in a few Vargas. They know we are coming. Tell the others and get ready."

Keith found Lance by the Red lion, talking with it, not wanting to interrupt him, he paused by the doorway and listened.

"Are you sure I was meant to pilot you, Red? I wonder how Keith feels. I felt pretty bad about giving up Blue, but hey, you're cool. I mean, do I get fire powers now? What about Keith? How did you feel about him? I mean, he's an okay guy, and I like him, but I don't know if you're okay with him flying black... Can you like summon him or something?"

Keith stepped out from the shadows.

"Hey, Lance."

Lance whipped around, startled.

"What are you doing? You didn't hear me talking to Red, did you? Oh, you probably did." Lance frowned, which was something he didn't do often. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok." Keith filled Lance in on the details of the mission.

Lance's mood visually changed. "A hot jungle planet and a new lion? Sounds great! Let's go!"

They sped off down the hall together, to find the others.


	2. Kty'hipta

Lance climbed into Red, feeling the familiar sensation of Lion. He had spent a few hours bonding and flying with Red, so he knew the controls well. It was just that Red was so agile, and responded with the slightest touch, whereas Blue took a good push to do flips and rolls. It felt really different. But a good different at the same time. Flying a different Lion reminded Lance of the time Lance had gotten new shoes for his birthday, to replace his worn sneakers. The new shoes were so fancy and stiff, but after he broke them in, it was like he had been wearing them forever.

Keith followed him. Allura had sent the red lion, as the king of Kty'hipta knew the red lion the most. King Alfor had done many missions to the jungle planet, so Allura was certain they would recognize it. If not... He tried not to think about it. Lance plopped down into the seat, sliding his hands onto the bar controls. The airlock beeped, warning them they had only a few seconds to prepare and get ready before it hurled them out into space.

The final countdown ensued, and Red zoomed out of the port. Lance looked back at the castle, which was getting smaller as they sped away. He turned his attention to the route path, which displayed a line out into space; telling him where he needed to fly. Once he was comfortable, he turned to Keith, who was fiddling with a latch on the ceiling.

"So. Keith, what's the plan? Do we just fly in there and say, WE ARE PALADINS! GIVE US GOLD!" Lance boomed.

Keith shook his head. "No. Allura says we need to talk with King Kthya and arrange to find a paladin for it. Remember, it can only be flown by a Kty'hiptan?"

Lance grinned sheepishly. "Right."

Red began a gentle descent towards the planet. Up close, Lance could see a lush jungle, with trees as tall as mountains. Some trees even pierced past the thick clouds that covered Kty'hipta. As Red got even closer, he could see a small runway/landing zone, cut right out of the tree. Thanks to Red's agility, the tricky landing was no big deal.

Keith and Lance stepped out of Red, into the humid air. Lance looked around in awe. The trees had homes carved out of them! Some huts hung from the trees, others just floated. One, which seemed to be the castle, was the tree itself.

"Wow, Keith. This place is amazing!"

Keith agreed. "It reminds me of the Olkari when we went to their forest."

A small helper drone approached the awestruck paladins.

"Greetings, visitors." The drone spoke in a robotic voice. "Do you have an ID card? If you do, please press 1. Press 2 for more options."

A keypad slid out of the drone's belly. Keith pressed 2.

"There is 1 appointment scheduled for King Kthya. Are you in correspondence for this meeting? Press 1 for yes, 2 for no."

Lance glanced at Keith.

"That's us, I guess." Lance pressed 1.

"Please follow me." The drone rotated with a grinding noise and slid down the runway.

The paladins followed, looking this way and that at the view. They were pretty high up, and down below, Lance could see a small village, where children played in front of what appeared to be a market. Their laughter carried even up to the treetops. Looking up, Lance could see floating homes, which appeared to be suspended in the clouds. Pidge would have loved to see this, he thought.

A rustling sound above him broke his thoughts. Lance looked up, curious. A small pink squirrel-like creature was busy making a nest for itself.

"Keith, look!" Lance pointed up at the pink mammal.

Keith raised his head. "What is that?"

"Roseticuss mamaliga," The drone responded, in a bored voice. "Press 1 for more information."

Lance and Keith laughed. Drones could be so silly.

After wandering through the trees for a few minutes, the paladins reached an enormous, shiny tree. It reached up, past the clouds. The tree seemed to go on forever.

"This must be the castle," Keith noted. "How can a tree grow that big?"

The drone vanished, leaving them in front of 2 majestic doors with intricate carvings. The carvings seemed to depict the story of this civilization. Lance could see small saplings, seeds, and people working to plant them. He shifted his gaze lower. The carvings told a tale of how they had to flee their homeland and come here, where they planted trees and lived in them.

"Hey, Keith! Did you see the carvings?"

"No," Keith sighed. "I was trying to figure out how to open the doors. There is no handle. I only see a handprint right here."

Keith placed his hand at about eye level, showing Lance the toddler-sized handprint on the door.

"So, I guess we knock?" Lance offered, as a reference to the old times.

"Go ahead."

Lance raised his fist and was ready to pound on the doors when they opened. A small, barefoot girl stood at the entrance, dressed in a simple tunic and sash. She appeared to be a servant.

"Please come," She said politely. "The King is expecting you."

Lance and Keith exchanged a look but followed the small girl.

After climbing up many stairs, and wandering through twisting hallways, they reached what appeared to be the throne room.

A throne that was carved out of a rainbow-coloured wood, with similar story-carvings sat at the end of the hall, and upon it, a kind-looking, dark skinned man sat. A simple crown of leaves perched on his head, which was bald. He looked tired.

"That must be King Kytha," Lance whispered.

Keith walked over to the King and kneeled. Lance followed close behind.

"King Kytha," Lance spoke. "We are here on behalf of Princess Allura of Altea. You understand that we are here to take the Gold Lion?"

Kytha spoke; a warm sound that rumbled through the hall. "Please. You honor me with your politeness. You may stand."

Keith and Lance stood.

"As soon as we received your message," Kytha explained, "we brought out the lion and began testing our most skilled pilots with them. Unfortunately, none of our pilots were even able to turn the Lion on!"

Lance objected. "But, sir, it's not a matter of skill! It's about the connection you feel with the Lion. The lion chooses you, not the other way around."

Kytha's eyes widened. "Oh dear. So you're saying I must get all the citizens to try the lion?"

"That's correct," Keith confirmed.

Kytha placed his hands on the throne, which began to glow. He spoke.

"Citizens of my planet. Two paladins have arrived here today. As you know, we have brought our lion out to be flown. However, this man here," He pointed towards Lance.

"My name is Lance..."

"Lance says that anyone can fly the Lion; the Lion chooses you. If you could meet in the field tree, you may be chosen."

The King removed his hand from the throne.

"Did you use the tree to communicate?" Keith questioned.

"Of course! We Kty'hiptans all can do this."

Lance said, "It's like with the Balmera, Keith!"

"What's that?" Kytha looked confused.

"Oh, another planet does the same as you," Lance explained, touching the throne. "They communicate using the planet. Or in your case, the trees."

The King smiled, which seemed to make the whole room glow.

"Come, paladins. We have many things to do."

Kytha led Keith and Lance through the treetops, over bridges, and sometimes right through tunneled-out trees. They never touched the ground.

Lance contacted Allura and updated her with the situation.

"Hi, Allura. Things are going great. Kytha has his subjects testing the lion, so they can find a paladin."

"Great job, Lance!" Pidge grinned.

"Oh, hey Pidge."

Keith stuck his head near Lance's hologram communication. He could see Hunk on the other end.

"What's Hunk doing? And where's Allura?" Keith asked.

"Oh, they're helping Coran prepare the room for the new paladin." There was a pause. "Coran says to ask the paladin if they prefer cookies or scones!" Pidge explained.

"Uhh... Sounds great! We'll be back with one awesome golden lion and one cool paladin soon!" Lance turned off the hologram.

The trio reached an overhang, which was right above the main village.

Kytha stepped to the side. Pulling aside a screen of vines, Lance could see the village down below. It was beautiful.

It also had Kty'hiptans jumping into a sinkhole.

"WHAT ARE THEY DOING?" Lance shrieked.

Kytha responded calmly. "Oh, they are just bringing out the Lion."

Lance was confused. "By jumping into a hole?"

"That's where the Lion is kept!" As if on cue, the Lion was dragged out of the cave, hauled by many ropes and workers. They pulled it into the grassy field by the village. It gleamed in the sun like a piece of glass. The Gold Lion also had a pair of silver wings.

"Did you modify it?" Keith inquired.

"No," King Kytha replied. "It came like that."

"I've never seen a lion with wings like that," Lance pondered. "Only Black's, and those are temporary powers."

"Sorry to interrupt," Kytha apologized, which was weird because he wasn't interrupting. "But my people are telling me they are ready to try the Lion."


	3. Nightshade

Down in the village, all the inhabitants had lined up outside the Lion and were one by one trying it out. It was a slow process. Lance yawned. He tried to be perky and friendly, but it had been 2 hours, and Lance was bored.

"Hey, Keith," He elbowed Keith in the side. "Do you wanna go check out the village?"

Keith groaned and stretched. He had been sitting on a stump for the past hour.

"Sure. I hope there's food."

Lance and Keith started down a gravel path, towards the town square. Lance immediately saw a restaurant. He gasped.

"Keith! Food!" Lance pointed at a small cafe that appeared to be hollowed out of a tree.

Keith smiled. "Just in time. I could eat a whole horse!"

"But," Lance's face fell. "We don't have any money."

"Yes, we do," Keith opened a hatch in his paladin armor, and shook out a few coins. "I hear they accept GAC here."

Keith and Lance wandered out of the cafe and were headed for a small shop when they heard a deafening roar.

Keith looked up. "Did you hear-?"

"Sure I did!" Lance nodded.

They ran as fast as they could back to the field. When they got back, the Kty'hiptans were cheering, and King Kytha was escorting a girl towards them.

"This is Nightshade." Kytha placed a hand on her shoulder.

Nightshade waved meekly.

Lance fought the urge to go up to her and ask her for her number. These tree people probably didn't have phones, anyways. Instead, he studied her. She looked to be about Lance's age, with honey bronze skin and forest green eyes. She had raven-black hair that was pulled into a braid. Nightshade was dressed in what appeared to be battle armor. He also noticed a small scar on her neck and a phoenix tattoo on the inside of her wrist.

King Kytha interrupted Lance's analysis.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to do your paladin stuff. The gold lion is there if you need it! Have fun!" He strode off. Kytha didn't seem to care much that he was sending away a citizen and a lethal weapon, and/or putting his planet at risk for attack from the Galra.

Keith stuck out his hand. "I'm Keith. I pilot the Black Lion."

Nightshade shook it. "I'm Nightshade, but you can call me Night."

Lance butted in. "The name's Lance. I pilot the Red lion." He smirked vivaciously.

Night shook his hand warily. She looked up at Lance and Keith.

"So, do we leave, like right now?" Her voice was silvery, like moonlight reflecting off the ocean on a starry night.

Lance stepped forward. "Yup! We leave as soon as possible!"

Keith glared at him. "Actually, you can take your time, but we really should leave as soon as we can. No rush."

"Okayyyy, so I can pack my bags and tell Andrew to feed the cat while I'm away?" Night asked.

"IS ANDREW YOUR BOYFRIEND?" Lance yelled.

"Actually, no," She replied, looking at a large tree with windows. "He's the supervisor of my apartment."

Lance did a small fist pump. Keith sighed.

"Don't mind him. I think he had too much oak tea at the cafe."

Night rolled her eyes. "Alright then. I'll pack. After that... I guess we're off?"

Keith frowned. "But don't you like have to say bye to your relatives and parents and cat?"

"Cat, yes," Pain flashed in Night's green eyes. "Family, no."

Keith and Lance gasped, almost inaudibly.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or anything..." Keith stammered. He knew what it was like to lose family members.

"No, it's fine. Now, I guess I should start packing." Night trudged off towards the apartment tree.

Night threw open the door of her apartment. She was shocked by the turn of events. Just one hour ago, she had heard about a lion wanting to be flown. She was just like, 'Sure, I'll try, but I want to get a coffee after this.'. Then it had turned on and roared and make her all hyper and alert.

What had happened?

Then there was Keith and Lance, the so-called paladins. What did they do anyways? They seemed nice enough, but Lance was... interesting.

Her cat, Rosemary, purred and brushed against her legs. Night felt a pang of sadness. She bent down and scratched Rosemary's head.

"I guess I won't be seeing you for a while."

She glanced out the window and could see Keith talking to Lance. They seemed to be a good team. She could also see the Gold Lion, which apparently was hers, now.

Night scanned her room. It was small but cozy. Her pallet bed sat in the right corner and a small dresser on the left. Her desk was at the foot of her bed.

Not much to say goodbye to, I guess.

She grabbed her messenger bag and opened it. The bag held her water-horn, a roll of paper, and a small knife. Night reached over to her dresser and pulled out the only two tunics, her combat boots, and her sash. She didn't have much. She couldn't afford more than simple clothes, and a small home. Night didn't earn much working in the kitchen of a restaurant.

Looking out the window again, she spotted the Gold lion.

She sighed. What would it be like to leave Kty'hipta behind?

A voice behind her startled Night. "You ready to go?"

Night whipped around. Keith stood in the doorway.

"Uhh, yeah? Do I need to bring anything special?" Her gaze switched to her simple bag and bedroll.

"Nope! The castle will have all you need." Keith smiled, recalling Allura's kindness. And sewing skills.

Night blinked. "Castle?"

"Yeah, we live in a giant flying castle."

"What?" Night shook her head.

"I'll tell you later," Keith dismissed. "Right now we have things to do."

Keith and Night wandered through the shadowed streets of the village. The trees in the way cast a strange shadow the buildings. It was like walking through a tribal village. Which they kind of were.

It was a long walk. Night lived at the far end of town, and the Gold Lion was approximately half a mile away.

Keith was getting impatient. "Can we like, take a shortcut?" He pointed to a shady looking alleyway.

"I guess," Night shrugged. "But be careful. There are pickpockets and gangs."

They ducked into a narrow alley lined with dead leaves and branches. The path twisted and turned; it seemed to be getting darker.

Night looked up in surprise. "Stop." She murmured.

Keith hissed. "What?"

"There's someone up there," Night whispered, pointing at the trees. "Stay back."

The figure dropped down from the treetop. It was a burly, rough-hewn man, with many scars and scrapes. He wielded a mace and scowled.

"Well. What brings little Nightshade and her new friend here?"

Night stepped forward. "Just passing through, Xander."

"You two know each other?" Keith gasped.

"Stay out of this, Keith," Night warned. "I don't want you getting hurt."

Xander sneered. "And I don't want you passing through." He swung his mace, but Night dodged. Keith drew his bayard.

"I said stay out of this, Keith!" Night growled.

Keith stepped back but kept his sword ready.

Xander tried to smash Night again, but she rolled out of the way. Unfortunately, she rolled into a corner. Night cursed.

"I've got you now!" Xander bellowed, and Night held up her hand as a final defense.

He raised his mace for the final blow, and Keith ran towards him. But before anything could happen, there was a blinding flash. Xander toppled backward, and Keith was pushed back too. Night stood up, holding a golden bayard. It transformed into a double-bladed sword; a pole with one sword on each end. One blade was gold, the other, silver.

Night yelled in rage and shoved the gold blade forward. It bit across Xander's face. Xander yelped and fled. Night collapsed.

"Night!" Keith sped over to her.

Night opened her eyes. The weapon shrank back to a bayard. "H-how? Did... w-what happened? There was a flash, and I fought, and Xander?"

"Are you okay?" Keith knelt by her side. She sat up. "You summoned your bayard, which is the weapon paladins use."

Night looked at the bayard, which was clutched tightly in her fist.

"I think I'm fine. I can walk. Just scraped up a little." She managed a smile.

Keith looked at her, concern in his eyes. "What happened back there? Who is Xander?"

"I'll tell you later. We have to get back to Gold." Night stood up.

"Good idea."

Night leaned on Keith to steady herself, and they walked back to Gold together.


	4. The Castle of Lions

Night looked up into the metallic face of Gold.

"All right. I'm your paladin now." She spoke as if she was speaking to a familiar friend.

Gold opened her mouth. Night gasped.

"Is it trying to eat me?"

Keith tried to hold in a laugh. "No, that's how you enter!"

"Oh." Night looked up. "Where's Lance?"

"He's flying Red back to the castle," Keith responded.

Night climbed into Gold's mouth, the red paladin following close behind. She entered the main control hub and gasped, in awe.

"Wow... I've never seen anything like this before."

Keith was startled. "You've never flown a ship before?"

"Of course I have! Just not a lion like this. They don't usually come out of a cave and decide to bond with me." Night retorted.

"Oh. Okay. That's good." Keith was extremely relieved.

Night took a seat in the pilot's chair. It seemed just right for her. As soon as she did, the Lion sprang to life, it's jointed limbs and wings unfolding; rising skyward. The control panel blazed on, too, and Night could see everything.

"This is amazing," Night gushed. "The tech on this is... perfect. How did they design it?"

Keith blinked. "I actually don't know... These are ancient. They were designed and built thousands of years before now."

"Really? But they seem so advanced? What's their power source? How does this work? What does it use to fly?" Night asked excitedly.

"I'm not really sure..."

"Oh. Ok." Night slid her hands onto the controls, as she had done millions of times. But this time, something was different. She felt a surge of power. She could do anything.

"Hang on, Keith! I'm taking off!"

Night pushed the thrusters into full power and Gold raised off the ground. The villagers below them gasped and pointed in reverence. She flew. Gold sped into the sky, with Night at her helm. Night hadn't flown in a while, and she forgot how free she felt when she flies. Gold increased altitude. In a matter of breathless seconds, they were in space.

Keith smiled. "Great job."

"That felt... So... WOW!" Night was panting.

Keith recalled the first time he had flown Red. He had felt the same way. The red paladin reached over and typed in a few commands.

"There. I've reprogrammed our course to reach the Castle of Lions. That's our main base."

Night nodded. "I'll take you there."

They sped into the cosmos, stars speeding by. Night knew exactly what she was doing. She followed the glittering path, and after a few minutes arrived in front of the castle. Night looked up at Keith expectantly.

"How did I do?" She asked.

Keith finished typing his message to Allura, saying they had gold and were ready to dock.

"You did really well. You're going to be a promising pilot and paladin." Keith praised, which was not something he did often.

Night beamed. "Thanks. Are we docking?"

"Yup," Keith looked up from Allura's message. "The princess says we need to use the hangar. Sorry, we don't have enough space for your lion yet."

"That's fine." Night began to bring Gold in for a landing.

"Oh. One thing, Night," Keith remembered. "Cookies, or scones?"

Night pulled into the spare hanger, setting Gold down firmly on the metal floor. She pulled off her helmet and dismounted her Lion. Keith jumped out after her.

"So what do we do now?" Night wondered.

"Well, I've got to debrief Allura, but I'm sure Lance would be more than happy to show you around the castle."

"Okay. Sounds good!"

Keith led Night to the main control room of the castle, where four paladins sat in their chairs.

"This is the main control room," Keith pointed out. "It's where we fly the castle, send out probes, and where Pidge does her coding and stuff."

Pidge popped up from behind the control panel, glasses slightly askew.

"Keith! It's not stuff! It's important. If you didn't have me, you'd be, what, stranded on a random planet right now?"

"Fine, whatever you say, Pidge..."

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Is this our new paladin?"

"Yeah." Keith glanced at Night as if to say 'Ok, give your intro speech, now'

Night gulped. She really didn't know what to say.

All the Paladins turned towards her.

"Um, hi guys? Paladins? I'm Nightshade, but you can call me Night. I'm the gold paladin and my lion has wings. I'm really excited to be working with you guys and I'm looking forward to flying my Lion next to Voltron."

They nodded in approval. One paladin, a dark-skinned boy holding a plate of space goo, called out, "What does your bayard turn into?"

"My bayard?," Nightshade pulled it out of the slat in her armor. "It turns into this."

Her bayard glowed and shifted into the double sword she used earlier. The paladins gasped.

Lance whistled. "That is one cool weapon, girl. Just like you!"

Everyone groaned. Apparently, Lance's antics had not gone unheard of in this castle.

There was an awkward silence. Night's bayard turned back into a bayard.

Pidge cleared her throat.

Night spoke. "Can I just, like get everyone's names? I really don't know..."

Pidge, the short-haired girl sighed. "I'm Pidge, as you already know. I fly the green lion"

"I'm Hunk. I pilot the yellow lion." The Space Goo boy proclaimed.

"You already know me," Lance drawled. "But the name's Lance. I pilot the Red lion."

Everyone sighed, again.

Keith sat down. "All right," He announced. "Lance, can you give Night a tour of the castle? Make sure you show Night her room."

Lance grinned. "I'd be more than happy to! Come with me, Night!"

Night reluctantly followed Lance.

Lions, paladins, space goo, and a tour with a rambunctious boy?

It's been a long day.


	5. Choose your Battles

"And, down there, we have the pool." Lance pointed to an elevator shaft, which glowed blue in the pale light. "Do you wanna see?"

"No, it's fine," Night groaned. She was tired after all the action of today and wanted nothing more than to have a long nap. "Do I have a room or anything? Or do we all share one cabin?"

Lance laughed. "You wish. Of course, we have our own rooms! C'mon, I'll show you!"

He led Night down the hallway they came, then turned left into a bright passageway. Night squinted, trying to adjust to the light.

This place is huge! What if I get lost?

"And this appears to be your room, Night." Lance opened the door to a white room. It had a blue bed on the left, and clothes chest on the right. A plate of cookies sat on top of the study desk in the middle, where a start chart hung above it. Night gasped.

"Wow! This place is amazing!," Night rushed around the room, eagerly taking in all the technology and assets. "We have our own holo-computers? Bathrobes? Wow! It's like a hotel!"

Night grabbed a cookie from the plate on the desk.

"And," She announced with her mouth full. "These cookies are amazing."

Night set down her messenger bag and pulled out her tunics. She hung them on the hook above her bed, along with the sash.

Lance opened the chest of clothes.

"Dude. You have your own clothes in here, already."

Night looked over.

"I do?" She scooted up to the chest, running her hands along the silky fabric inside. Night pulled the clothes out.

A bathrobe, towel, one dress, three more tunics (nicer than hers), a silver sash to tie the tunics on, and...

Night tapped on a hard surface.

"What is this?" She pulled out a full set of paladin armor. It was just like Lance's but gold instead of blue.

Lance gasped. "Woah... Allura found that? That's sooooooo cool! Put it on!"

Night obliged because the armor looked so cool. She slipped off her ceremonial armor that she was wearing, and placed each piece of paladin armor on. It fit perfectly. She glanced at the mirror on her left. And gasped. She looked... Amazing. Like a true paladin now. Lance stood behind her.

"You look good," Lance ventured. "Like ready for battle, or something."

Night turned around. "Will we actually have to fight?"

"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm sure you're good at fighting." Lance dismissed.

Night wasn't so sure of her fighting abilities. "Sure..."

"No, really! Keith told me about what happened in the alley, with your bayard and all that." Lance picked up Night's bayard, which she had placed on the desk. He handed it to her.

Night took the weapon and turned it over in her hands.

"Keith told you, huh?"

Lance looked at the floor. "Yeah, why?"

"You guys seem to make a good team." Night commented, and it was true.

Lance looked at Night, a little concerned. Did she know?

"Why do you say that?"

"You two are always looking at each other," Night explained. She took off her helmet, her long black braid falling down her back. "It's like you've known each other for a long time."

"I've only known Keith for 6 months." Lance countered. "But he's a good friend. We fought a lot at first and hated each other. But then we got past that. We became friends. Then we... He trailed off.

"Then you what?" Night pushed, uncertain of the circumstance.

"Keith is... I don't want to talk about it." Lance looked really embarrassed. He fidgeted with the hem of his green jacket.

Night gasped. "You... Oh. I see. That's fine."

There was a silence so tense the air could have snapped.

"Let's go back to the others." Night shattered the strained silence.

"Good idea." Lance's voice was tight as they walked out of the room.

As Night walked back to the control room, two thoughts battled in her head. One, she was trying not to get lost. Two, Lance. She didn't mind, but, she had only known him for 5 hours, and yet...

There were so many things she didn't know.

Thankfully, she didn't get lost, and she reached the massive doors to the control room. She leaned against them, overwhelmed by what had happened in the last hours. Exhaling, she turned to Lance.

"You ready? Lance?"

But Lance wasn't there.

"Lance?" Night looked around the corner. No Lance.

Her heart beat fast.

Where was Lance?

Maybe he was just checking on something, or he stopped by his room to get stuff? No. Lance's room was right across from hers. He couldn't have been there.

"LANCE?"

She retraced her steps and found herself on the training deck.

"Lance, where are you?"

Night walked around the deck, looking up at the control windows. No one was there. She was beginning to panic.

Okay, Night. Focus. Breathe.

She put on her helmet, for no reason. It made her armor look more complete.

Ok. Where did you last see him?

Night thought. I last saw him when we were walking out of my room. I remember. That's it! I'll go back there.

Night turned towards the exit, but that was when the doors slammed shut. She jumped.

Great.

She jiggled the handle on the door, but it didn't open. Night pressed the exit button, but that didn't work either. What was going on?

Yay, she thought. Trapped in a random room with no one to help. In a creepy castle with people whom she barely knew.

A grinding sound startled her. Panels in the floor started to open, pushing yellow figures into the open.

What is going on?

The fighters were armed with swords. There were 2 of them, and each charged at Night. Night barely had time to react. She dodged out of the way and landed in a square stance. She pulled out her bayard, and it turned into the double sword she used earlier. Grasping it firmly, she spun it around. The flat of the silver blade hit Yellow Dude 1 in the chest, sending it flying back. Night turned the gold blade on Yellow Dude 2, but 2 was quicker, it dodged Night's spinning attacks.

"Can't you just die already?" Night yelled.

Apparently, the answer was no.

By this time, 1 was back on its feet. It charged at the same time at 2, flanking her on either side. Night spun around, blade extended. She cut down Yellow Dude 1, slicing him clean in half with the gold blade. Night squared off against 2, panting. She was tired. The blade grew heavy in her arms. 2 charged at her, and Night flipped out of the way, but she was too slow. The blade caught her on the ankle, tripping her. She rolled a few feet, weapon skittering out of reach.

Night cursed.

She stood up and ran over to her weapon. Pulling it into her hands, she looked around.

Where was 2?

Then it jumped down right in front of her, trying to cut her leg off. She yelled in rage and tried to slash at it. Yellow 2 nimbly dodged her attacks.

It wants me to get tired, she thought. And it's already done that...

Night glared at it as they danced across the arena. Luckily, the fighter's sword reach was short, and it seemed more interested in dodging, so Night went on the offensive. She slashed, spun, and kicked, but to no avail. Her arms burned, and sweat blurred her vision. Her hair fell in her face.

Suddenly, her blade began to glow. Something told her to raise the gold blade skyward. There wasn't much time. Yellow charged toward it, catching it off guard with a feint then attack. Yellow was swept to the side.

Night thrust the blade up towards the white ceiling. An arc of lightning blazed down towards the gold end and reflected off it. Then she collapsed from exertion. The bolt hit Yellow 2, incinerating it. At that moment, the doors opened, and Keith and Lance ran in.

"Night!" Lance rushed to Night's side.

Keith sprinted over, as well. "What happened?"

Night groaned and rolled over, opening her eyes. "Ow… My ankle… Lighting… My bayard… Keith? Lance?"

"You're hurt," Keith gasped. "We need to get you to Allura."

Night looked at her ankle. It was wounded, a bloody gash that stained the floor below it a crimson red.

Night shook her head. "No, I'm fine. It's not that deep. Just get me a bandage and water. I'll be fine, I promise."

"That looks serious," Keith frowned. "And you probably are tired from summoning lighting. How did you do it?"

"I dunno… I just kinda pointed the gold blade up?"

Lance picked up the weapon and stuck the gold blade straight up, hopeful. Nothing happened.

"Nope!" Lance shrugged, handing the blade to Night.

Night sat up. "I think only I can do it."

"No! You're gonna hurt yourself again. I think doing it uses a lot of energy!" Keith pulled the weapon from Night, but she held it close to her chest. She frowned at Lance.

"Is Keith, like the overprotective worrisome one? He seems like he is…"

Lance blinked slowly. Then laughed.

"You serious? Ohhh, good one. I thought you were telling the truth! Once, I was in a coma for three days, and all Keith did was claim he cradled me in his arms!"

Night shook her head. "What?"

"Seriously?" Keith tried to scoff, but it was obvious Lance was telling the truth.

"We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!" He mocked Keith, who was now glaring at Lance… And blushing?

Night stood up, against Keith's protests. She closed her eyes.

"You guys might wanna stand back." She warned. They took a few steps back, but watched, curious.

Night palmed her blade, sliding the grip into her right hand. She concentrated, feeling the energy of the bayard flow into her. Night raised the gold blade towards the sky. An audible crackle was heard, and seconds later, a white bolt screamed toward the blade.

Night tilted the gold ever so slightly, and it bounced off, arcing into a million tendrils, which snaked across the floor. She opened her eyes and gasped. The floor was alive with electricity around her.

A silvery-white halo surrounded her, giving her strength, making her whole.

It was a little scary. Keith and Lance looked on, awestruck. Pride shone in Keith's eyes. Fear in Lance's.

I'm scaring him, she thought.

She willed the bolts to go away, and they did, crowding around the blade, jumping and quivering with thousands of volts. She slammed the gold end into the ground, discharging the bolt. A pillar of light shot upward through the ceiling. Then it was over.

Night placed the blade at her feet.

Keith and Lance ran over to her.

"What did you do?" Keith demanded.

Lance brushed his fingers along the double sword.

"And how did you do it?"

Night looked at the weapon, at the chocolate-coloured handle, the cobalt-blue shaft, and the gold and silver blades. "I-I don't know! I just concentrated, and it did the lightning-thing!"

Keith gasped. "Your ankle!"

Night looked at it, expecting the wound to have opened again. But there was no wound. It was gone, healed by the lighting.

"What? How?"

"That's impossible..." Keith murmured.

Lance shoved the blade towards Night.

"Here's your lighting-blade," He said. "I have to go."

Lance stalked out of the room.

Night frowned. "What's gotten into him?"

"He's probably jealous," Keith shrugged. "Not everyday someone with a gold lion and lighting powers shows up."

"And what about the fighters? Who sent them?" Night looked worried.

Keith looked at the control room. "I don't know. But it wasn't a training exercise. The trainer's blades don't make cuts. They only smack you."

"You're saying someone was trying to kill me?" She turned to look at him, green eyes wide with fear. "Why? And who?"

Keith sighed. "I don't know. I can get Pidge to check the computer logs if you want."

"Okay..."

"Well," Keith started to walk out of the room. "Let's go find Pidge."

Keith and Night watched Pidge, whose fingers flew furiously over the holo-screens. Pidge muttered as she worked.

"Ok, bring up the database, there we go. Now, scroll, scroll. There we are... Control room, training deck. Today... 3:00 PM, alright. I got it!"

Pidge looked up from her work, pushing her glasses into place.

"What did you find?" Night leaned over, looking at the screen

Keith leaned over, too. "Interesting... The log usually says who sent it out."

"But it doesn't." Pidge typed in a few commands. Nothing showed up.

Night frowned. "Whoever did it probably hacked the system to cover up their tracks."

"Wait, wait, wait! I'm getting something!" Pidge punched in a few orders, bringing up an entirely new screen.

"What is that?" Keith squinted at the hologram "It's in Altean."

Pidge typed in a few things, summoning a widget. "This translates it to English."

The screen whirred, and after a few seconds, the page had been translated into English. Pidge scrolled through all of it.

"Aha. This is what you're looking for."

Night reached out, tentatively. She touched her finger to the 3:00 PM log, expanding it. It was in complex code. Night looked at Pidge.

"What does it say?"

Pidge enlarged the text. "It's encrypted. This will take a few hours for me to figure out. I'll tell you when it's ready."

Keith groaned. "That's gonna take forever. We need to know now. If someone is hacking the system, it could put all our lives in danger."

"I'm sorry, Keith. It's the only way." Pidge began decoding the encrypted text, murmuring as she worked.

"Hold on. What's that?" Night pointed towards a box of text, in Altean.

Pidge translated it quickly. "It tells you what type of fighters were sent out. This says the ones that tried to kill you were... Allura's servants?"

Night gasped. "Who's Allura?"

"The princess who owns this castle!" Keith explained.

"Wait. If these were Allura's," Pidge frowned. "That means that only Allura could have sent them out. They require her quintessence to be activated."

"ALLURA SENT THEM?" Night yelled.

The doors banged open behind them. Princess Allura stood in the doorway.

"That's right. I did. Now, come with me, Nightshade. We have many things to talk about."


	6. Visions

Night raced after Allura, who walked briskly down the hall. She was so confused.

What had happened?

She hoped Allura wasn't trying to kill her. Night's hand crept down her armor, summoning her bayard. She willed it not to transform, but instead, she held it, making herself feel a little more comfortable.

The duo reached a tall set of doors. Allura threw them open, her white hair flying out behind her. She pointed to a table flanked by two chairs.

"Sit." Her voice was icy, but Night could detect guilt, even pain, behind it.

Night gingerly sat in the chair on the right. She sat on her hands, which was a gesture of politeness on Kty'hipta. Allura perched on the chair on the left.

There was a tense silence.

Allura shattered it, her gentle words cutting the tension.

"I'm sorry, Night."

Night turned on Allura. "Sorry? That's all I get for you trying to kill me, almost succeeding, then hacking the system so Pidge had to decode things to find out it was you?"

Allura looked down at the table.

"There's something I have to explain."

Night glared at Allura, but let her continue.

"The reason I did that was to find out if you were on our side. I am not trusting of random people entering my castle. I sent the fighters to test you. If you had been a spy or a traitor, they would have been much harder on you. They also forced your weapon to turn into the true form it is."

"How?" Night was confused. "I had already used my bayard once. It turned into the same thing."

Allura looked surprised by this but quickly covered it up.

"In case your weapon is disguised, such as a bomb, the fighters force it into true form. It turns out you have been using the true form of your weapon, although, the fighter's data tells me it has more than one form."

Night blinked. "My weapon has more than one form?"

"Yes. In many cases, a paladin's bayard has more powers than they expect. Using the weapon more will unearth these forms. For example, today, you used your blade to summon lightning."

"Can the other paladins do that?"

Allura shook her head. "No, but Keith teleport his sword to his other hand if he needs to."

"Oh." Night stopped sitting on her hands. The hard surface of the chair made them hurt.

"If it's okay with you, can I see your weapon?"

Night held up her bayard. "Sure." It transformed into the two-ended sword that she had seen earlier.

Allura gasped. "I've seen that weapon before. It's called a... Mak'aitu."

Night shook her head. "A what?"

"Sorry. It's Altean. It means 'bladed pole', or 'saber'."

"Mak'aitu? Can I name my weapon?" Night looked at the blade in her hands.

Allura was confused. "Why would you want to do that?"

"In Kty'hiptan culture, it's tradition to name your weapon, as a tribute to it," Night explained. "The dagger I carried when I was a pilot was named Cygnus."

"Oh. You can name your weapon if you want." Allura smiled.

Night nodded. "I think I'll name it Mak'ai. That means warrior-queen in Kty'hiptan."

Allura clasped her hands. "Now, I have other matters to discuss. You must receive a vision from your Lion."

"Okay," Night was a little perplexed. "Why?"

"To form a deeper bond with your Lion!" Allura said this as if it explained everything.

"And why do I have to do that?" Night inquired.

Allura sighed. "It's to help adjust to your lion. It also may unlock hidden powers of the Lion and your bayard."

Night perked up. "Like find it's second form?"

"In theory, yes. I will help you find the vision, but once you go to the spiritual plane, you are on your own."

"Oh... Okay. Can we do this now?"

Allura looked impressed. "Yes, of course. Let us go to your lion."

Night stood in front of Gold, with Allura at her side. Gold whirred on instantly, responding to Night's presence.

She climbed into Gold, sitting in the pilot's chair. Allura stood behind her.

"Now, close your eyes, and try to see through the eye of your Lion."

Night shut her eyes, slowing her breathing. She gripped the levers, feeling a pulse like a drumbeat inside. It was Gold's heartbeat. She tried to delve deeper, but there was an obstacle in her way. Something was in her way. She opened her eyes, turning to Allura.

"I can't do it. Something is blocking my way!"

Allura looked like this situation was familiar. "I know. You need to open your heart and mind to Gold. No secrets. Just you and Gold, forever. Find inner serenity."

Just Gold and me. Serenity.

Gold and me.

Serenity.

Gold serenity.

Night closed her eyes, again. Sliding her hands over the levers, she opened her mind. No secrets. She opened her heart. No fear. The drumming pulse came again, throbbing through her very being. She began to see a rapid pulse of visions, too quick to read. Her pulse quickened. She was close. She could feel herself leaving her body, going to the spirit world. Something told her Night could open her eyes. She did and saw an expansive plane of light and space.

This is the spirit world, her lion seemed to say.

She squinted, trying to see past the fog that obscured everything.

Night took a step forward. The fog pushed away from her. Another step. The mist moved away from her, and a path cleared. Gold told her to go down it.

Night walked down the path, on high alert. She could see ghostly shapes, moving in the fog behind her. Sometimes she would get glimpses of faces.

Eventually, the path ended, leaving her in a clearing, where there was no fog. A lone pedestal sat in the center of the area. Night, as if in a trance, walked up to it and put her hand on it. It glowed and shifted. She felt the world around her changing, moving, unseen gears grinding, altering the dimension. A thick haze surrounded her. Night could hear ticks, perhaps very ticks of Time and Space itself. It was scary.

I'm scared, Gold.

Relax, Gold rumbled. You are about to delve into your past. Prepare yourself.

Night looked down, and saw herself, dressed in a white gown. The gown tugged at a desert memory, trying to bring her there. She let it.

Night closed her eyes, allowing the vision to take hold of her.

When she opened them, she was in a grassy field, dotted by flowers and trees.

Where am I?

She turned around, and a wooden cottage sat behind her, nestled between two hills. She sat in the soft grass, the blades tickling her feet, which were barefoot. Night was still wearing the white gown.

The door to the cottage burst open, and 5 children ran out. 2 girls, 3 boys. They scampered into the field and began to play.

"Where's Katya?" They chorused. "Can she come and play?"

Katya.

The name tugged at Night's heart.

One child, a boy with shaggy black hair, ran up to her.

"Katya! Wanna play ball with us?"

Why does he look so familiar? She could feel herself standing up, running to play with the bright blue ball they tossed around. Night peered at the shaggy-haired boy's face.

I know him.

The scenery changed, blurring and warping in front of her. She could feel herself being lifted up and placed in another dimension.

No! Wait! I-

The blur cleared.

She was now standing inside a modest house. The shaggy-haired boy had grown. He was taller, dressed in a black shirt and jeans. Night looked down to see what she was wearing. A simple tunic, tied with a red sash. She could see the boy shooting worried glances at her.

"Is Katya gonna be OK?"

Night heard herself say something as if protesting that she was fine. She saw who the boy was talking to. A man and two women sat on a couch, arms crossed. The man stood up, beckoning them. Then a look of panic crossed his face. He began to run, shouting inaudible words. The next thing happened so fast, Night almost doubted it had occurred.

There was an explosion, gunshots. The adults fell down dead. Night felt herself running. She grabbed the slender wrist of the boy, tugging him away from the screaming. Far, far away. Her feet thudded on the ground.

They ran and ran.

The scene began to change again. She could feel Time accelerating, bringing her into the future.

"No!" She called, trying to bring the past back, but Night knew it was useless. There was no arguing with whatever demons possessed the Spirit World.

She was lying in her bed, it was dusk. Night ran her fingers along the dusty window panes, humming to an unknown song. The boy opened the door to her room and stuck his head in. His eyes were tired, no longer bright and alert. The boy's usually scruffy hair had been cut close, making him look older than he really was. He said something Night couldn't make out, but his voice sounded so, so familiar. The boy left the room. Night rubbed her hand over a window pane, looking out into the desert evening. She could see a building in the distance, some sort of Academy, apparently. The door opened again with a grinding creak. Night heard herself greeting the boy. But it wasn't him. Someone else. She rolled over, trying to pretend he wasn't there.

The last thing she saw was a rough-hewn face, holding a knife to her throat.

The vision ended, and Night was back where she started, holding her hand to the pedestal.

"I need to know more," She murmured. "Show me."

Gold thrummed her paws against the ground, matching the clicks and ticks of the Spirit World.

"Show me more!" She yelled.

A blinding flash of light.

She was in her room at the desert shack again. The boy was kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room. His hair had grown longer as if he hadn't bothered cutting it. The boy's face was tear-streaked. The walls were smeared with... Her blood? Something told her it was Night's blood on the walls. The red stains were scratched, as if someone had tried to clean it, but had given up halfway. The boy held a figure of a phoenix, a toy, in his left palm. The plaything was scratched and battered, but he held it so tight. The toy carried a distant memory for Night. He fell forward, sobs shaking his thin shoulders. The boy screamed, anguished sounds slipping from his lips. His voice was hoarse, but strong, like a battle cry. He called one name over again, a name that chilled Night's flesh and made her heart hammer against her ribs.

Long ago, she had vowed to never hear that name again, but now, the sorrow reached her ears. Tears ran down Night's face. Everything was falling into place.

"Katya," The boy sobbed. "Katya. I'll find you one day. And I'll take you back."

Everything turned black, and Night felt herself back in the pedestal room. She fell to her knees, overcome by emotions. Sobbing, she crawled back the way she came, back to Gold.

Gold came to her, bending down and humming, trying to comfort Night. Night's shoulders shook, silent tears streaming down her face. Gold opened one paw, revealing the Phoenix figure she had seen before. Night took it, holding it close to her chest.

Gold picked Night up and brought her back to the gates of the Spirit world.

I can only speak to you here, Gold told her.

"Why?" Night whispered, voice hoarse from crying.

My spirit can only communicate when I am connected with you.

"Ok..." Night took a deep breath.

You are strong, Gold reassured. You have dealt with this much better than I expected.

Night looked up at Gold, tear-streaked cheeks turning up with a smile. "Thank you," she murmured. "Please take me back."

Gold bowed her head, nudging Night towards the heavenly portal. Night fell forward, back to reality.

She awoke with a jolt. She was back, inside Gold. Her knuckles were pale white, gripping the bar controls. Night was soaked in sweat, and tears were still running down her face. Allura looked at her, concern flashing in her eyes.

"What happened?"

Allura's voice shook her fully back into reality.

"I-I don't want to talk. I can't tell you..." Night's voice cracked, and she broke down into tears again.

"Are you sure?" Allura leaned down so she was level with Night.

Night glared at her through her tears. "Yes, I'm sure."

She ran out of Gold, sprinting down the halls to her bedroom. Night threw open the doors, pulled off all her armor, tossing it across the room, and flung herself down on the bed, crying.

What happened?

Gold had given her memories of her past, but Night already had those burned in her mind. Gold was trying. Trying to tell her something else.

Night sat up suddenly.

I have to talk to someone.

Her brain instantly rebelled, telling her it was a bad idea.

Stop. They'll hate you for it. They are the only friend you have. You can't-

NO.

She stood up, grabbing a now-cold cookie from the plate. Then collapsed into tears again.

I can't. I won't. Night looked at the clock. It was 10:36 PM.

I hate myself.

She cried herself to sleep.

Night woke up suddenly, at 1:03 AM.

Where am I?

Then everything came back to her. The Lion, Gold. Keith and Lance. Her bayard. Allura. The vision.

She was lying on the floor, not far from the bed.

I must have fallen out of my bed.

A piece of paper on the desk caught her attention. She grabbed it.

-Night:

I tried to talk to you about Paladin training this evening but I couldn't find you. We'll talk tomorrow.

-Keith

Keith.

She crumpled the note in her hand. That's who I'll talk to, now.

Stunned by her own courage, she pulled a tunic over her bedclothes. Tying a red sash over the tunic, she thought.

Red for courage.

She pulled her hair back with a blue ribbon.

Blue for patience.

Night slid her feet into her boots, not caring she was barefoot.

Black for strength.

Well, she thought. Let's go find Keith.

Night walked out of her room. She put her hands in her pockets, fingers brushing against something.

What?

She pulled out the Phoenix figure. It seemed to glow in the dim light of the corridor. Night looked at her wrist.

Her tattoo.

It looked the same, both birds with their wings spread wide, head tilted skyward, flames surrounding them.

Why?

She remembered the tattoo shop on Kty'hipta. The courage in her voice as she lied about her age. How she gritted her teeth as the wooden needle bit into her flesh.

Night slipped the figure back into her pocket.

Orange for calm.

She reached Keith's room. The door was closed and Night raised her fist to knock but realized Keith was probably asleep. She pressed her ear against the door, expecting to hear snoring or gentle breathing. Instead, she heard a rhythmic tapping and a scratching sound.

Keith was writing, and tapping his foot on the floor, probably swinging his legs back and forth like she did when she was bored.

What was Keith doing awake at 1 in the morning?

She knocked, tapping gently on the metal door.

Night heard Keith curse, then shove the papers in the drawer.

"Come in..." His voice was gruff and tired.

Night slid the door open.

"Night?"

Keith was sitting on his bed, wearing his black shirt and pants. His jacket hung on the hook by the desk, and his boots were thrown hastily by the door.

Night murmured a quick prayer to the Kty'hiptan Gods, then spoke.

"Keith. We need to talk."

Keith stood up. "Why now?"

Night blinked. "M-my Lion gave me a vision. I need to tell you about it."

Keith nodded and gestured for Night to sit down. She perched on the edge of his bed. Keith sat on the floor, resting his chin on his knees.

Night didn't know where to start. Her hand brushed against her tunic pocket.

The Phoenix.

She pulled it out of her pocket, handing it to Keith. Their hands brushed, and Night pulled her hand away quickly.

Keith gasped.

"Where did you find this?"

Night told him about the Spirit world. She left out the visions, saying Gold gave it to her.

Keith nodded, but he had a look in his eyes.

Sadness? Shame? Fear?

He reached under the bed and pulled out a red box.

Red for courage.

Night peered at it.

"What is it?"

Keith opened the box. It contained a few pieces of candy, a rock, and a blue satchel.

Blue for patience.

"It's just strange," He whispered. "I have..."

Night was passed the blue satchel. She opened it and gasped.

She pulled out an identical figure, the same Phoenix.

"How?" Night gave Keith both of them, and he turned them over in his hands.

Keith held up his. "Mine has a name on it." He tried to say it as if it wasn't important, but obviously, he cared about that name.

The name was written in black marker.

Black for strength.

Written on the left wing of Keith's Phoenix was the name. Katya.

Night couldn't control it. She started crying.

Keith gasped. "Does that name mean something to you?"

She couldn't hold it in anymore. "That name... Katya... That's my name."

"What?" Keith dropped the Phoenix, and it clattered to the floor, the writing facing straight up at Night.

"I-I changed my name."

Night tearfully explained her frightening visions, leaving out the last two.

Keith tried not to cry, but obviously, he had been in her visions. The first tears in months started to trail down his cheeks.

"The boy you keep mentioning," Keith explained, burying his face in his hands. "That boy is me."

Night looked up, her green eyes pooling with sadness.

"You... your voice sounded so familiar... and you're... just everything... you were there."

Keith raised his head, looking at Night. "Did you have any more visions?"

Night took a deep breath. "I had two more."

She recounted them, with Keith crying harder and harder with every mention of him and Katya.

"You died." He said when she was done.

Night shook her head. "I don't understand. The third vision, with the man and the knife."

"I came into your room. There was blood everywhere, and half your possessions were gone. I found the Phoenix in the center of the room." Keith scooted closer to Night.

"No," Said Night, remembering suddenly. "The man slit my throat. Then he fled. I grabbed at my throat, then fell against the wall. That explains the blood. Then I grabbed my silver sash and bound my wound with that. I took my stuff and ran away." Night pointed to the scar on her neck.

Keith gazed at her, eyes shimmering with tears.

"Your mother gave you that sash."

Night gasped. "M-my mother?"

"Yes, your mother. She said it would save you someday. It really did." Keith brushed his fingers against Night's red sash.

"How do you know my mother?"

Keith sighed. More tears fell, wetting the sheets on his bed. "I... I don't remember."

Night frowned. "In the vision, there was a man... Was he your father, and the woman your mother?"

"You said there were two women. But I think the man was my father."

"I know!" Night growled in frustration. "Wait. The first woman was my mother, and the man was MY father."

Keith clenched his jaw. "No, the man was my father."

"Keith." Night grabbed his hands, something that made Keith flinch. He hadn't been touched in a long time. "I think the man was both our fathers."

Keith gasped. "We're siblings?"

"No," Night shook her head. "There were two women, remember? One was your mom, one was mine..."

"We're..."

Night let go of Keith's hands. She lay back in exhaustion, falling on Keith's bed.

"There's a word for that... I can't remember... When someone only has one parent in common..."

Keith lay down next to Night.

"A half-brother?"

Night gasped. "You're my half brother!" She rolled onto her side, inches away from Keith.

Keith blinked. "How? How does Fate do that? I found you after all these years. I promised I would. You heard me, right?"

"You said it yourself. I'll find you. And I'll take you back." Night whispered.

Tears streamed down both their faces. Tears of happiness. Keith reached over and pulled Night closer to him.

"I'm never letting you go again."


	7. The Fight Circle

Night finally sat up, after what felt like an eternity of Keith holding her and them both crying. It was 3 AM. Her eyes hurt from crying so much. She rubbed her eyes, groaning. Keith sat up, next to her. He hadn't cried in so long. Now tears of pure happiness streamed down his pale cheeks. Night handed him the Phoenix - his Phoenix and stood up.

"I have to go," She whispered. "Can we talk more tomorrow?"

Keith nodded, lying back down on his bed. He held the phoenix close to his chest. Night opened the door, walking out. She turned down the hallway, and ran straight into Lance.

"Lance?" She squinted, trying to see in the dark.

The shadow moved into the light. "Night?" It was Lance's voice.

Lance frowned. "What are you doing up? It's 3 in the morning!"

"I was…" Night gulped. She wouldn't tell him the truth. "What are you doing up?"

She had successfully changed the topic. Lance stammered. "I-I was… umm… I…"

"You were…" Night slipped the phoenix into her pocket. Lance sighed.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone. I was sneaking out to see Keith."

Night almost shouted. "Keith?" She was just in his room a few minutes ago. A while longer and that would have been a very bad situation.

"Yeah…"

Night's heart raced. Keith was still shaken up about her vision. If Lance went to see Keith now, it probably wouldn't go well. Keith would probably blurt out Night's secret, then Night would be ruined.

"I don't think that's a good idea," She covered quickly. "I could hear him. He's having a nightmare."

Lance stepped forward. "Then I'll go in and comfort him!"

Night blocked his path. "I think he would want to be left alone, Lance."

"What have you been doing, Night?" Lance glared at her.

Night sighed. Lance really wanted to see Keith tonight. And that wouldn't work.

She whispered, "I'm sorry, Lance."

Then Night jabbed him in the back of the neck with two fingers. He collapsed to the floor, immobilized. Night apologized again, then dragged the paralyzed Lance back to his room. She leaned against the wall and sighed.

Close call, Night.

She hurried back to her room, pulled off her tunic, and fell asleep even before she could turn off the lights.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

She awoke to Pidge's face over hers.

"Pidge?" She rubbed her eyes, groaning.

Pidge stepped back. "That's me!"

"What are you doing in my room?" Night sat up, putting on her tunic from the night before.

Pidge sighed. She began picking up the pieces of armor. "Don't put on that! It's training and bonding day today! Get your armor on!"

"Ummm, okay?" Night grabbed the clothing from Pidge, and shooed her out of the room.

Night sighed. She slipped her armor on, feeling how light and lithe it was. Night exited her room and made her way to the main control room. All the paladins were there already, in full armor. Allura looked at Night with a concerned glance. Anger flashed in Night's eyes. Allura had no business learning about her visions.

Lance glared at her. She could see the two bruises where she had stabbed him yesterday.

Night shot a smoldering gaze back at him. She sat down next to Keith, who looked at her with a slight curiosity. Considering the events of last night, that look seemed appropriate.

Allura clapped her hands, and everyone's heads snapped to the front.

"Good morning, Paladins. As you know, we have our new paladin, Night, here with us today. We will be working on bonding and welcoming her to the team."

Keith flinched at the word "bonding".

Allura continued. "The first step to welcoming a paladin is learning their fighting style. It will help you work together as a team, as you will be fighting side by side." She glared at Night.

Hunk opened his mouth, which was full of food. "So, we'll watch Night do a fighting demonstration?"

"No, Hunk," Allura sighed. "You'll be fighting her, yourself."

Night jumped. The defenders of the universe against Night? Who barely knew anything about fighting? Who tripped over her own feet and spilled her oak tea on the most expensive tablecloths? She was doomed.

Hunk's shoulders sank. "Oh."

Allura stepped down from the raised platform she was on.

"Follow me to the training deck, paladins."

They filed out of the room. Keith walked beside her.

"Hey."

Keith sighed. "How are you feeling? You know, after last night, and all that."

"I'm fine," Night replied. "Just really tired."

Lance stuck his head between them. He glared at Night, then grinned at Keith.

"Heyyyyy Keith!"

Keith leaned away from Lance. "Umm, Hi? Lance? How are you?"

"Great! Do you think we'll really get to fight Night?"

"Of course we will!" Keith sighed. "Allura said we would."

Lance grinned one more time, then walked off to Hunk.

Night looked at Keith. "I am not looking forward to fighting you guys. I am so screwed."

Keith shrugged. "Not really. Maybe you can do the lightning thing!"

"Right. But I don't want to burn them or anything!" Night said.

They reached the training deck. Night could still see her blood on the floor from yesterday. They all took a seat in the center of the room. Night sat next to Keith, on his right side. Lance sat on the left.

Oh no, she thought. Only Keith between me and an angry Lance.

Allura's voice sounded through speakers. Night looked up. She saw the princess up in the control booth.

"Paladins. Please summon your bayards."

Night summoned hers, feeling its familiar grip in her fingers. Everyone else did the same. She looked at everyone's weapons. Lance and Hunk had guns, Keith a sword, and Pidge had a katar, which was probably also a shock prod, as Night sensed electricity flowing from it.

Allura spoke again. "Any volunteers to go first?"

Lance stuck his hand straight up, probably eager to beat Night. She sighed. Night looked at his weapon. It had a weak point, and if she hit it, the gun would fly out of his hands. She hadn't seen him fight before, so Night would have to make observations during the fight.

"All right, Lance, step into the circle." A circle of light sprung up beside them. Lance and Night walked into it, glaring at each other.

"Remember, paladins," Allura warned. "Fight to disarm, not to kill."

Lance smirked at her. "Ready, Night?"

The others watched curiously, probably calculating their moves.

"Oh, Lance, you will regret this." Night tried to sound confident, but her voice wavered. Just a little.

"Ok, paladins. On my signal." Night tensed. "3...2...1.. Begin!"

Lance rushed at her, shooting like mad. Night dodged and spun her blade, expecting to deflect the lasers back at Lance. Instead, the bolts were absorbed. Mak'ai glowed a white-blue. With energy.

Lance let down his defense for a moment to stare at Night's blade. She charged at him. At this moment, Lance realized he couldn't defend against two blades with a gun. He dodged one attack but forgot about the other blade. It smacked him on the bottom. He grunted but stayed on his feet.

Firing a few quick rounds, he took off, weaving in between Night's attacks. Night noted that he was weak on his left side. She pushed him onto his left side, forcing him to use hand to hand defense. He tried to punch her but only succeeded in catching her on the ear once. It barely stung.

Lance threw an especially hard punch, missing by a wide margin. He was off balance. Night thrust the silver blade towards the weak point of his weapon. It flew out of his hands.

At this moment, the circle dissipated. Lance ran over and grabbed his gun, but he knew the fight was over.

"All right, one fight down. I hope you were taking notes. Good job, Night. Who wants to go next?"

Pidge stuck her hand up. Night looked at her weapon. It had an extremely short reach. Night would just have to knock it out of her hands and she would be done.

They stepped into the circle, which had regenerated.

"3...2...1… GO!"

Night waited for Pidge to make the first move. That was something she learned when dealing with new people. But apparently, Pidge knew, too. They stood there, squaring off against each other. Night had an idea. She feinted cutting at Pidge, and Pidge raised her bayard as a defense, leaving her flanks open for attack. Night spun her blade, attempting to buffet Pidge's sides. Pidge was quicker. She extended her blade into a grappling hook and pulled herself to the other side of the arena.

Interesting, Night noted. It had two forms.

Pidge rushed at Night, aiming the shock prod for Night's stomach. Night blocked, absorbing the voltage with the silver end, again.

Mak'ai's silver end absorbs electricity!

Night thrust her blade out, and Pidge narrowly dodged it. Pidge was agiler than Lance, but her strength was different. She locked blades with Pidge, the electricity from the bayard crackling into her blade. Pidge pushed against Night, but Night pushed back, shoving Pidge backward. Pidge realized pushing was useless, and pulled her bayard away.

This is a tougher battle. Pidge is smart.

Night's blade sizzled with electricity. She slammed it into the ground and a pillar of light shot up, blinding Pidge. She took that as an opportunity to knock Pidge out of the way with the flat of the gold end. Pidge flew out of the circle, and Night's heart jumped for a second.

Oh, no! What if I hurt Pidge?

But Pidge was okay. She sat up, dazed from the light. Night helped her up.

"You fight well," Pidge praised. "Better than I expected."

Night smiled. "You too, Pidge. You're great with your bayard. You put up a good fight."

Pidge grinned and sat back down.

Allura came down from the control booth. "Don't mind me. I just want to see the fights up close."

Or see me get destroyed, up close and personal.

Hunk stood up. "I guess I'll go next," he said. "Do I really have to fight? I kinda don't want to…"

Allura looked at Hunk. "Do you think you have a good idea of Night's fighting style? We'll talk about the fights later."

"Yeah, I guess." Hunk nodded.

"Good," Allura pulled out the blue bayard. "I'll fight her next."

Night groaned inwardly.

Just great.

Hunk sat back down. "So I don't have to fight?"

"Yeah. I've been looking forward to fighting Night for a while."

Night gulped. I guess I can use my lighting if I need to.

She stepped into the ring. Allura's bayard transformed into an energy whip.

Oh, that's not good at all.

Night estimated a long reach and high speed. This was going to be a tough fight. They squared off. Night bowed as a symbol of respect, weapon held above her head as they did on Kty'hipta. Allura bowed, too, but Night could sense the stiffness and disrespect the bow carried.

Allura took the first move. She twirled, snapping the whip. Night blocked the blow with the silver blade, waiting for the recoil. But it never came. She heard Allura gasp. Night looked up. Night had cut off the end of the whip with her blade.

How?

Rage burned in Allura's eyes. She flicked the whip again. Night dodged, cutting off a tiny bit more of the weapon.

Allura stays in the same spot. Probably because of the reach. If I could get a good slash…

Night feinted going right, then ran left, slicing her blade across the whip. It was now a foot long, a much shorter reach than it had been before. Allura hissed in rage, a sound that didn't match her physique. The whip grew back to it's original length.

Oh, quiznack.

They danced around the arena, a vicious waltz of slashing and stabbing. Night's twin blades spun and jabbed, never touching Allura, only the whip, which grew back every time. Night was getting tired, but she wouldn't show it.

I need to find my weapon's second form.

Night decided on using her lighting. It might give her enough time to concentrate properly. She faked a hard blow at Allura, pushing her back, the pushed the gold blade up. Instead of a bolt, a wave formed, surrounding her. The other paladins gasped.

Allura backed up, and the lighting followed her. She flicked her whip at it, but the weapon sparked off against the wall of electricity.

Night held her weapon with both hands, delving into it. She heard Gold's heartbeat.

Am I going to have a vision?

There was no vision, but Night could feel her blade… changing? She thought harder, channeling the crashing emotions of yesterday into the weapon. There was a sound of metal against metal, and suddenly, Night was holding two swords. Like her twin blade, the one in her left was silver, and gold was on the right. The silver was shorter and heavier, used for blocking. Gold was light and sharp, about 80 centimeters, good for cutting and attacking.

The lighting wall disappeared, and Allura rushed at her. Night closed her eyes and let the energy of Gold take over her.

When she opened her eyes again, Allura had been pushed back to the east end of the circle, panting. She was overwhelmed by the two blades. Night flipped around, kicking Allura in the face. The paladins gasped again.

Allura yelled in rage, flashing the whip across Night's chest. It burned, but Gold's energy healed it instantly. Then she tripped. Of course, she had to, at this moment. Allura slammed the whip down on her. Night screamed but stood up. She kneeled, glaring at Allura.

I won't give up.

Her grip tightened on her blades, and she slammed both into the ground. A shockwave raced out from the blades, knocking Allura off her feet and making the paladins watching jump up. Allura tumbled over, and Night slammed the end of her blades together, turning it back into the twin blades. Night rushed over to Allura. Allura whipped her weapon across Night's face, but the pain barely registered. She held the blade to Allura's throat, blood running down her face.

Allura blinked, then coughed out three words.

"Fine. You win." Her voice was dripping with hate and pain.

Night shrank her bayard back to the gold handle and stepped back, wiping the blood from her face. She glanced at her reflection in the shiny floor. A cut ran across her left cheek, but it wasn't deep. Allura stood up. She stalked back to the control room. Night sat down, exhausted. Hunk passed her a water packet, and she gulped it down hungrily. Allura pointed at Keith.

"Keith. You're our last fight. Let's go."

Night glanced at Keith. A dark look had passed over his face. He probably wasn't looking forward to fighting her. Lance stared at her, rubbing the back of his neck. Pidge and Hunk sat next to each other, discussing how to do a backflip.

Keith stood up, and his bayard transformed into his scarlet blade. He stepped into the circle, bowing to Night. Night bowed back awkwardly. They stared at each other. Night narrowed her eyes. Keith did, too. A drop of her blood hit the floor.

Someone's got to make the first move. I will, then.

Night ran at Keith, spinning her blades. Keith flipped out of the way, behind her. Night turned, smashing into Keith with herself. He staggered back and regained balance. They locked blades, Keith's weight bending Night back. Night looked into Keith's purple-black eyes and slipped out from his weight. Keith fell forward but rolled away from Night's heavy blows.

They danced around the arena, both taking a few light hits, but not submitting to the pain. Night's wrist burned from where Keith had brought his sword down especially hard. Keith was limping slightly from a low sweep of Night's blades.

She was tired. Sweat ran into her wound, making it sting. The clang of blades and the thump of Keith landing flips and Night sending flying kicks at his face made Night tired. She realized they were evenly matched.

There would be no winner of this fight.

Unless…

Night summoned a quick bolt of lighting, making Keith jump far out of range. Then she concentrated, her twin blades splitting into the two she used earlier. Night charged at Keith, metal against metal. The silver blade was good at absorbing his heavy slashes, but the gold was not. She accidentally used the Gold to block a hard blow from Keith, and the blade flew out of her hands. Night cursed.

She fended off his aggressive attacks and tried to grab her blade. Night locked blades again with Keith. She fell to the floor, barely blocking most attacks. She extended her hand. The gold was a few feet away. If only… Night yelled in fury, and the Gold blade flew into her hand. Keith gasped. She flipped over, pinning Keith down with her legs in a tight scissor hold. He wriggled free, and Night kicked his blade out of his hand.

Keith growled but knew the fight was over. They both stood up, panting.

Night dragged her feet out of the circle, and collapsed on the floor, breathing hard. Keith sat down next to her, sweat dripping off his body.

She managed a few words. "Good fight, Keith."

"Yeah…" He rubbed his ankle, where Night had hit him.

Lance scooted over to them. "You won all the fights, Night! What more do you need now?"

Night groaned.

"I need a nice, long shower."


	8. First Battle

Keith sank into the mess hall chair, emptying yet another hydration pack. He was exhausted, even though he had only fought once. He passed the deflated packet to Lance, who tossed it into the garbage chute.

The other paladins walked into the room, full of energy. Well, besides Night. She stumbled into the chair next to Keith and lay her head on the table.

"Please tell me the day is over, now." Night groaned.

Keith sighed. "I would love to tell you that, but, we still need to debrief. Then we have dinner. It's kind of lunch and a meeting right now."

"You got that right," Hunk grinned. He slid two plates of space goo towards Night and Keith. "Space goo for everyone!"

Night stared at the goo. "What the quiznak is this stuff?" She poked it with her finger.

The doors slid open, and everyone turned. Allura strode in, none the worse for her battle with Night.

Allura sat at the head of the table. "Paladins. What did we observe about Night's fighting style today?"

Pidge raised her hand. "She's strong and agile."

Keith nodded in agreement, remembering how she had slammed into him, but also bent back when he had pushed her.

"I didn't get to fight her," Hunk added, shoveling goo into his open mouth. "but she has lightning powers."

Everyone started talking all at once, asking Night questions. Even Keith was a little curious.

"How do you do it?"

"Is it tiring?"

"Does it hurt?"

"What does it feel like?"

Night leaned back in her chair, trying to put space between the eager paladins and her.

"I-I really don't know. It just takes focus?"

Allura crossed her arms. "All right. Enough about her lighting. What do you think about her skill level?"

The paladins all sat back down.

"She's pretty good," Lance began. "But I don't fight with those types of weapons, so I can't really tell."

"Night likes to use her weapon and hand-to-hand at the same time," Keith added.

Hunk nodded. "She also is really good at blocking."

"In my opinion," Allura stood up. "Night's skills are decent. Novice at most."

Keith gasped. Lance stood up, too. "She beat you, Allura." Lance stuck a long finger at Night, who glared at Allura.

Allura glanced around at all of them. Pidge also stood up, taking a stand beside Lance. "Yeah, Allura. Why are you being so harsh towards her?"

"Sit down, all of you. It's true. Night is not experienced at fighting."

Night and Keith jumped up at the same time. Keith spoke first.

"Ok, seriously Allura. Why are you saying these things?" He leaned his hands on the table. "She's our new paladin. You said it yourself."

Night crossed her arms. "What did I ever do to you?"

"You don't deserve to be a paladin, Night. You're a spy."

All the paladins gasped. Keith growled under his breath.

I can't let Allura do this to Night. I have to protect her.

Keith slammed his fists on the table, making the plate of goo rattle. Anger was taking over him.

"Can't you just cut Katya some slack for once?!"

Night gasped but quickly covered it up. Allura frowned at Keith, and the other paladins just looked confused. Keith cursed under his breath.

Lance smashed the tight silence. "Umm... Who's Katya?"

Keith opened his mouth to explain, but Night was quicker. She tried to make it no big deal.

"Keith is my half-brother. My lion told me. I... umm... on Kty'hipta, we had a naming ceremony and I was done with the name Katya so I changed my name."

This only made Allura angrier. She stood up "Does that make you Galra, too?"

Night blinked. "Galra?"

Allura sighed and explained Keith's Galra heritage.

Keith tried to stop Night from saying yes, but it was too late.

"I guess," Night wondered. "Does that make Keith Kty'hiptan? Does that mean he can fly Gold?"

The princess turned on Night, her voice deadly quiet. "I. Don't. Want. Galra. On. My ship."

Night backed away from Allura, a look of concern in her eyes. "Look. I've done nothing to hurt you. Why are you so concerned?"

Keith stepped forward, regret deep in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Night."

"Wait," Lance objected. "How do we actually know Night is Galra?"

Keith pulled the blade out from his belt. He hadn't looked at it in a long time. He handed it to Night. "Did you ever get something like this? From dad?"

Night frowned. "Yes, actually," Everyone gasped. "When I was a pilot on Kty'hipta, I carried it as my ceremonial dagger. Cygnus?" Night glanced at Allura, expecting her to know this.

"Do you have it with you?" Allura glared at Night, testing her.

Night pulled at her braid. "Actually, yes. Do you want to see it or something?"

Allura strode over to Night. "I do. Prove to me that you're innocent, and I'll let you stay."

"Whoa, guys," Lance put his hands in front of him. "Chill. Night is fine. Obviously, we haven't been attacked by the Galra in a while, so it's fine."

Pidge raised her hand, peeking out from above a holo-computer she had pulled up while everyone was arguing. "Actually, hate to break it to y'all, but there's a battle cruiser headed for us right now?"

The room erupted into chaos. Lance started putting on his armor, as did Hunk and Pidge. Night, who was still in her armor, turned around so quickly she whipped her hair through the space goo (and knocked it off the table). Keith summoned his bayard.

"Everyone to your lions!"

"Keith, no!" Night yelled.

Keith turned around. "I'm the leader, Night. I make the decisions."

"No. You said we were a team. I say you send recon to find out what's actually going on."

"Actually," Lance paused in putting on his leg armor. "that might be a good idea."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Fine. Night and Lance, since you think you're so smart, go in Red to get an idea of what's going on."

Lance nodded, taking no note of Keith's sarcasm, grabbed Night and his bayard, running out the door.

Keith yelled after them. "I was kidding! Guys! Come back here!" No response.

He sighed, turning to the remaining paladins. "Pidge, monitor their progress on holo-cam. Let's do it in the main control room. Hunk, help me handle probes in case things get messy. Allura... I don't know. Try to keep the castle from blowing up, ok?"

Everyone ran off to do their tasks, which left Keith. He rubbed his eyes and pulled on his helmet.

My first battle, and I've got no idea what to do.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Night stood behind Lance, watching him fly Red. She was kind of disappointed that she didn't get to fly Gold, but she was also kind of afraid to step foot in Gold after the visions.

Lance contacted Pidge.

"I don't see any fighters. It's just the cruiser. They don't notice us, yet. Want us to sneak in?"

Night heard Pidge replying. "What did Pidge say?"

Lance turned to Night. "She says to use the cloaking device and park on the asteroid. Then jet in."

Night nodded. Lance guided Red towards a small asteroid not far from the giant ship. She squinted at it through the windows of Red. It was huge. The Ion cannon at the top thrummed with energy.

They touched down. Lance opened the hatch on top of Red, and they climbed out. Looking out into the distance, Night could see unknown planets.

I've never seen this place before.

Lance jumped off, using his jetpack to drift to the flank of the cruiser. He sliced a hole in the side, and they slipped in.

Pidge spoke up. "You guys in? I've got map data from our last encounter. I'll send it to you."

They were in some sort of hangar. Fighter ships were lined up neatly along the sides of the room, with a large, streamlined fighter in the middle. Lance pulled the map up on his screen.

"We need to go... That way." He pointed to the left, where a long hallway stretched out in front of them.

Night looked down it. The corridor was empty. "Where does it lead?"

"To the main control room."

They slid along the walls of it, seeing no sentries or guards.

"That's weird..." Lance muttered. "There's usually tons of sentries."

His screen beeped, pointing to a panel in the ceiling above them.

Night leaned over, squinting at the screen. "What does it say?"

"It says we have to go in there? Ohhh. Pidge says if we want to get into the control room without being noticed. The only other entrance is through the main doors, and that's not gonna work."

Night summoned her bayard, poking through the panel. They grappled into the hole. It led down a long tunnel, giving them just enough room to walk in single file. Night led the way. The passage was long and straight. They walked in silence. Night cleared her throat.

"Ummm... Lance?" She looked behind her. "I have to ask you something."

They stopped walking. Lance looked at her. "What are you asking me?"

Night sat down. "A-are you jealous of my lightning powers?"

"Umm." Lance blinked. "Well, I was at first, but then I got over it. I didn't like you at first because Keith treated you so nicely... I guess you could say I was a little jealous of Keith and you. I thought he liked you or something."

Night sighed. "I thought he did, too. But we're half-siblings. I think we had some sort of connection, and that's why he was being so nice to me. Pidge warned me that Keith was grumpy and irritable, but I couldn't see that." She paused. "But you like him, don't you?"

Night saw Lance blush, even in the dark of the hallway.

"Can we... talk later? We have a mission, you know."

Night decided it was probably not a good idea to press further. She nodded and continued walking. After about five minutes, they reached a small overhang, where Night could see what was obviously the main control room. Galra soldiers sat, managing systems and computers. The main commander was conversing with someone who was out of sight.

Their voices were roughish and hard. "Sir. We have the castle in sight. What do you want us to do?"

"I say we blast it to bits, now." Lance drew in a sharp breath.

"But Zarkon would want that black lion, would he?"

"It's durable. It'll survive the blast."

"Alright. Ready the Ion cannon. It has to take a half-hour to warm up. Get the fighters ready in case they try to escape."

"Yes, sir. Vrepit sa."

"Vrepit sa."

Lance looked at Night. "We have to go, now."

Night and Lance turned down the corridor and ran.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Keith stood up, drawing everyone's attention to the front of the room.

"Well, I was kidding about the recon, but it seems it has helped us." Keith smiled at Lance, who looked down at the floor.

Pidge looked up from coding. "I'd say our main goal is to take out the cannon first. This should be an easy battle. One cruiser?"

"But what about the fighters?" Night questioned. "I saw a lot in the hangar!"

Keith shrugged. "I guess we just got to see how it goes."

"I have an idea," Lance added. "Maybe we should put all the Lions but Gold out first. They don't know we have it. If things get bad, we could bring Gold out."

Night crossed her arms at the idea of missing a battle but agreed.

"All right. Good plan, Lance. Everyone get to your Lions. Night, we'll call if we need you."

The paladins headed to their Lions, and Night walked down the separate hallway to the hangar. Gold still didn't have a proper launch port.

She opened the doors to the huge hangar, where Gold was perched. The massive machine gleamed in the white lights. Gold roared in recognition.

Night took a seat in Gold, connecting with the paladins.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?"

Keith's voice crackled to life. "Going great! Allura's having a bit of trouble flying, but we should be fine in a couple of minutes."

"Great!" Night's heart sank a little at the thought of not fighting.

"On second thought... Looks like they've noticed us... And they've called in backup. You better get out here, now."

"Gotcha."

Night sped out of the hangar before the doors were even fully opened.

Weaving between the rocky asteroids, Night observed the situation. The five lions were flying in V formation, gunning down various fighters.

Night contacted Keith. "I'm out. What's the plan?"

Keith's face flickered onto the screen. "See those? The larger fighters? we have to use our jaw blades to take them out. Those are more dangerous than the small ones."

"Jaw blades?"

"Yeah, jaw blades," Keith nodded. "You summon them like this." Night saw two blades form in Black's mouth.

She tried it. Nothing happened. "Uh, Keith? Nothing is happening."

"What do you mean?"

A screen flashed on Gold's controls. "Gold doesn't have one... Wait... It says my wings are the blades?"

Night shrugged.

Keith blasted a row of fighters. "I guess that'll have to do."

She took off, spreading Gold's wings. Suddenly, she heard a scrape. The wings were extending more, flaring out into pointed ends that were deadly-sharp. Night heard the other paladins gasp. She urged Gold forward, slicing whole ships in half. Pidge followed behind in Green, laying heavy fire on the cruisers that followed them. A hard blast passed on Night's right. She rolled under it, coming to a rest beside Red.

Green, Gold, and Red flew in tight formation, Gold leading the charge. They cut through the thick swarm of fighters. Suddenly, a large ship surfaced on the horizon, much larger than 5 battle cruisers put together. It was trailed by a few hundred larger fighters and countless small fighters. She heard Keith curse.

"This isn't good, guys," Hunk announced.

The trio flew towards the others, lining up in a pyramid with Gold being the middle bottom.

Pidge fired a tail-shot, taking down one of the hundred cruisers. "We need to form Voltron, I think. There's no other way."

"I think we're doing Voltron," Lance confirmed. "Night, stay here."

The five lions started drifting upward. Night followed them.

"Where are you guys going? What's Voltron?"

Allura's voice came through first. "It's when all five lions fuse together to form an ultra-powerful weapon. You're not part of it."

You're not part of it. Those words stung Night. She narrowed her eyes.

"I'm gonna try to do Voltron-whatever. If it doesn't work, whatever."

Keith sighed. "Fine. You need to concentrate, focusing on team bonds."

"I don't really have any..." Night fretted.

"You kidding me?," Hunk asked. "You're Keith's freaking half-sister, dude."

Night looked over at Black. "Right."

"Form Voltron!" Lance cried.

She shut her eyes, trying to bring together her team bonds. They flew in tight formation. She thought of Lance, who had given away his secret in order to help Night. Of Keith, who she had never expected to be who he was. Of Pidge, who had specially come into Night's room to wake her up this morning. Of Hunk, who hadn't judged her, who was so kind and merciful.

Gold folded up, flaring her wings even larger. The lion tilted upright, becoming Voltron's wings.

"Guys! It's working!"

Everyone cheered, except for Allura.

"I don't understand," Allura whispered. "How can Gold be part of Voltron?"

She felt Gold attaching to Black's back, locking into a pattern, becoming one. Her view was perched on Voltron's helmet, giving her a perfect line of sight.

Keith gasped. "We've got wing shields!"

Night opened her eyes. The wings that had been on Gold were expanded wide, deflecting shots from all the ships surrounding them.

She glanced at the controls, and a bayard keyhole sprung up. It flashed.

"Guys? Why does my Lion have a bayard-hole?"

Everyone answered at once.

"Shove your bayard in it!"

Night looked skeptical but nodded. She summoned her bayard and slammed it into the hole. The interior of her Lion glowed goldenly. Voltron pulled out a blazing energy staff, held by Voltron's right hand. Lance swung it around, and it shot a bolt of lightning at the nearest fleet, taking it out fully.

Night stared at it, amazed at what she had created. "Guys! This is so cool!"

Lance spun the staff around, expecting. "What? Nothing's happening! Where's my cool lighting?"

"I think it needs time to recharge," Pidge guessed. "In the meantime, let's play baseball with Galra cruisers!"

Night nodded, and Voltron sped towards the remaining fleets. Lance knocked aside ships, creating a domino effect. A halo of explosions surrounded them. Lance used the lighting again, destroying a few fleets.

Then a cruiser decided to ram head-on into them. The paladins yelled in concentration, bringing Voltron upright again. Night grunted, wings extending and cutting down five ships. They were being swarmed. The cruisers had all come together and were warming up the Ion cannons.

"Guys!," Night warned. "Ion cannons!"

Keith growled in frustration. "There's too many of them. We need to de-form Voltron."

Night slammed the controls forward, detaching herself from Voltron. The rest of the Lions dissipated, scattering to bring down the ships. She flew beside Black, rolling and flipping to blast ships. Black and Gold flew in perfect formation, blocking shots for each other and using flanking techniques to bring down even the larger cruisers.

"Keith, why are we so good at this?" Night smiled at Keith through the video feed.

Keith was humming along to some song. "I don't know. But we're doing great."

Night recognized the song, and sang along, destroying ships at the same time. Her voice was clear and bright, but with full notes that gave away to husky tones.

"In touch with the ground,

I'm on the hunt down I'm after you.

Smell like I sound I'm lost in a crowd

And I'm hungry like the wolf

Straddle the line in discord and rhyme,

I'm on the hunt down I'm after you.

Mouth is alive with juices like wine

And I'm hungry like the wolf!"

They stopped singing, instead of working together to bring down the remaining fleets.

"Where is that song from, Keith?"

Keith shrugged. "I don't really know. But I think Lance likes it, and I heard him singing it one day, so, yeah."

Black and Gold met up with the rest of the group.

"How are we doing?" Keith asked.

Pidge replied. "Great! I think that was the last fleet."

"Sounds good," Lance added. "I think we should head back to the castle for dinner."

Hunk's eyes grew wide. "NIGHT! LOOK OUT!"

A blast from the Ion cannon ensnared Gold. Gold protected Night from most of the blast, but Night could feel Gold's pain, burning into her. It felt like her joints were being unglued, and knives were stabbing her, making Night twitch and yell with pain. She could hear the other paladins shouting at her, feeling Black grab her out of the ray, then flying back to the castle.

She slumped forward, pain ratcheting her body. She could feel Lance pulling her out of Gold, being shoved into a healing pod, the concerned whispers of Keith and Lance.

Is she okay? Dead? How did they get her? She's not gonna be okay. Her memories? Will she remember? Trauma?

Then everything went black and Night slipped into unconsciousness.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Song lyric credits: Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf (2009 remaster)


	9. Spirit World

She wasn't sure if she was dreaming. Or alive.

Maybe I'm dead, Night thought. I'm probably dead. Can you think when you're dead?

She heard someone singing. The voice was distorted, like they were singing underwater. Night tried to open her eyes, but all she saw was black.

Yeah, I'm dead.

The singing got louder, as if the singer was approaching her. Then it stopped.

Please keep singing, Night thought. It makes being dead more interesting.

She heard footsteps. They were light but had a certain touch to them, like the person was dragging their heels or something. The voices were talking. Whispering, almost. Night couldn't hear much, but she got the general idea. The conversation went something like this.

"What should we do?"

"I don't know?"

"She's the paladin! Gold's been acting up ever since that happened. I think Gold can sense her pain."

"You know, Gold took a lot of the blast too. Maybe she's malfunctioning or something."

"I don't think so. I think it's something else."

"Actually, I've been meaning to tell you, Black has been acting strange, too."

"The same as Gold?"

"Yeah."

"Can we go see?"

"Sure. Let's go."

"Go ahead. I gotta check on something."

"Okay."

The light-footsteps person left the room, and Night could feel someone place their hand near her. Night tried to move away, but she was suspended in something.

Okay, maybe I'm not dead?

The person who was kind-of-not-really touching her spoke. The voice was male, but young, not aged.

"You okay?"

Night tried to say something, but she couldn't speak.

The person sighed. "I don't really know what happened. Keith says Gold is acting weird."

Keith? Who's Keith? I know a Keith!

"I hope you'll live. Pidge says there's a small chance."

Pidge? I also know a Pidge. They woke me up yesterday!

"I didn't know you for long, but if you make it, I know we'll be good friends."

Who is this? Hello?

"Please don't die, Night. The paladins need you."

I know what paladin is! It's a type of cheese! On Kty'hipta! Why does cheese need me?

"Night?" The person started crying.

Don't cry. The cheese will be fine. Please don't cry!

Night hated it when people cried. It made her want to fix it.

Cheese needs me. I will help.

Night forced her eyes open, and was blinded by the bright lights. She was in some type of pod. A steady beeping sound was the first sound she heard.

Someone turn that off! It's not helping me focus.

A sharp pain in her left shoulder made her groan. There was a deep burn on it.

When did that happen?

Night was dressed in a tight white suit. It was a little too tight.

Hey. I'm going to need better clothes to save cheese.

She pushed forward. The thing she was suspended it was a jelly-like fluid. It make moving hard, but it was also cooling and soothing. Finally, she fell out of the gel, stumbling onto the floor. The person who she had been talking to turned around. It was Lance.

Lance! I know you! You said I needed to save cheese!

Night tried to run towards Lance, but she tripped, falling forward. He caught her, making Night gasp in pain.

Watch the shoulder!

She looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. They were slick with tears.

"Night? How?"

"Lance..." She managed, voice weak and thin. "I need to save the cheese."

Then she fainted.

Night woke up in her bed, Hunk holding a bowl of broth to her lips. She sipped it, not caring of the bitter taste or the heat that burned her tongue. She caught her reflection in the mirror on the wall. Her face was scratched up, but eyes as bright as ever. Her wrists were taped, in some sort of cast.

Hunk smiled at her, but it was empty. He seemed distant. "Hey, Night. You okay?"

"Yeah..." Night tried to nod, but she ended up choking on the broth.

"Keith wants to see you," He stood straight, pulling the food away from Night. "He's really worried about you."

Keith? Isn't he my brother or something?

The doors behind Night slid open, and Keith walked in. He had been crying, eyes stained with tears.

"Night!" He ran over to her, almost knocking over Hunk. Hunk took this as his signal to leave.

He walked out the door, leaving the broth behind. "I'll leave you guys to... Yeah."

Keith embraced Night, which was something he had never done.

Night lay there stiffly, not able to move. "Hi, Keith."

"You... Night... I thought I had lost you."

She sat up, ignoring her back's shriek of protest. "Nope, I'm here."

Keith examined her wrists. "How are you feeling?"

"I honestly don't know," Night untangled herself from Keith. "What happened to me? I remember a blast, then nothing."

"We were fighting Lotor, Zarkon's son. We were heading back, then you got shot. You got burned up pretty badly, and I think you broke your wrists from slamming down on the controls. But the healing pod helped a lot. You'll be flying again soon."

Night frowned. "Healing pod?"

"Yeah," Keith explained. "It's like a pod that has healing-liquid stuff. Lance was in one while he was in his coma."

"The bonding moment one?"

"Um… yeah. That one."

Night sat up, higher. "I heard Lance talking near my healing pod with someone. Was that you?"

Keith nodded.

"Why is Gold acting weird? And Black?"

"I don't know." Keith stood up, reseating himself in Night's desk chair. "But I think it has something to do with your bond. Gold's emotions are connected with yours, you know."

Night threw off her bed sheets, ignoring Keith's protests. "I'm going to see Gold, now. If she's acting weird, maybe I can fix it."

"No! You still need time to heal! You're weak."

She stood shakily, leaning on the bedpost for support. One step forward. Night put on a tunic over her stupid tight white leotard.

"Don't try to stop me, Keith." She turned to walk out the door.

Night raced down the hall, pain flaring in her right ankle. She didn't care. Keith called after her, but she ignored him. Gold needed her. Night rounded the corner into Gold's hangar. She gasped.

Gold was severely beaten up from the blast. The wings were bent out of shape, and the paint was scratched up badly. There was a long scrape down Gold's left flank, where the cannon had first hit.

Why did they hit me? Why not the castle?

Night approached Gold, but Gold wouldn't respond.

"Gold! It's me! Night!"

Nothing.

Her heart began to race.

Oh no! What if Gold is... dead?

She pried open Gold's mouth, wrinkling her nose at the smell of burning wires.

I'll have to get Pidge to help me.

Everything looked okay on the inside, but Night suspected some computer problems and malfunctions. She sat down in the chair, placing her hands on the bar levers. Her wrists pulsed with pain as if remembering the incident. She took a deep breath.

Gold?

Nothing happened. Night took in a shuddery breath. She brushed her fingers along the panel, turning it on. But Gold wouldn't respond. She could only bring up the data from the mission before. Night recalled how easy it had seemed to destroy the Galra ships; a single blast of the tail shot. Maybe that's how it was with Gold. She thought Gold was indestructible. Night felt guilt.

Why was I so careless?

She began to cry.

I've ruined everything. Allura was right. I don't deserve to be a Paladin. Everyone else was fine. They didn't get blasted to pieces, or have to spend two days in a stupid pod. One of her tears fell to the control panel. Gold responded to Night's sadness, turning on with a shaking noise.

Night opened her eyes. Gold was alive! Her heart swelled with happiness. Never had she felt so attached to something like this. Gold was still in bad shape, though. Night could feel it.

She closed her eyes, taking herself to the spirit world.

I should talk with Gold.

The landscape of darkness shifted behind her eyes, transporting her. She stood in the world of clouds again, with Gold at her side. The Lion looked fine, with no signs of damage.

Gold!

Night. It has been a while.

I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

Do not fret, young paladin. I am fine.

How can I fix you?

There are... certain elements of the spirit world that may help.

How?

Journey to the Plane of Dreams and you'll see.

The Plane of Dreams?

I'll take you there.

Night felt herself falling forward, into a white room. It was just a white box, with nothing but her inside. About the size of her bedroom, it was big enough for her to stand straight and reach up.

I need to help Gold, she thought.

A small black box appeared in the center of the room. Night picked it up. The box fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. She opened it, and a small shard of metal floated upward from the box. Night picked up the fragment. It looked to be about the same color as Gold's wings. She smiled. But she knew this wasn't the plane of dreams. It didn't feel right.

Can you take me to the plane of dreams?

Night didn't expect a reply, but that's exactly what happened. An ethereal voice responded. The Dreammaster.

Yes, at the price of the metal you hold.

No! This is for Gold.

The voice rumbled as if laughing. Gold. I see. You are a paladin. I have not seen one of these in a long time. Black was the last Lion to come here

Keith came here?

I do not know a Keith, but the Black lion came here with no paladin thousands of years ago, searching for a Gold lion. It seems I have found it.

Why was Black looking for Gold?

Black told me Gold was his mate, but I am not sure. It may have been a ruse to let him into the Plane of Fantasy.

What? Can we get back to the Plance of Dreams, please?

You are demanding. Yes, you may go, if you give me the metal.

I won't. there has to be another way.

There is. A way out of this box is here.

I'll find it.

It is harder than you think. It would be so easy to just give up.

No.

I'll leave you to it, then.

The voice vanished out of her head, and Night was back in the white box. She paced the length of the room, looking for anything that might help her. The only thing she found was a small triangle inscribed in the wall. Night traced her fingers over it. The shape began to glow, and a pedestal rose in the center of the room.

Not more pedestals.

Night walked up to the column. On top of it was an orb, shifting colors. She touched it, and the room went dark, only the orb was shown, floating in the dark. Night approached it, but before she could do it, the Dreammaster appeared. It was a figure dressed in swirling robes, holding a purple staff. It had a cruel smile.

What do you want?

Dreammaster's grin grew wider.

I want you to face your worst fears. Make it out alive and you may proceed.

Is this a trial?

You may put it that way, yes. Your half-brother, Keith endured similar trials to gain knowledge.

Keith did this? You said he never came here!

No, no. A different Trial. The trials of Marmora.

Trials of Marmora?

Yes. He barely survived, and almost never got the knowledge he hoped for.

Stop talking about him. You're just trying to scare me.

But he really did do these trials. Ask him.

Can we do this trial thing already?

You are brave in the spirit world, young one. I can see it. Your very being is creating a dent in the fabric of the plane. But powers you cannot imagine exist here, child.

Night's tunic disappeared, replaced by another stupid tight leotard. It was red, with one sheer sleeve and leg.

She summoned her bayard.

No weapons, the Master reprimanded.

Night handed her bayard to the Master, feeling the cold touch it put on it.

There we go. Best of luck to you.

The dark box changed, shifting to a metallic room, very similar to the training deck.

Night tensed. She was supposed to face her worst fears. Where were they?

She heard the Dreammaster speak.

Child. You are about to begin your first trial. Pass your worst fear and you will proceed.

A figure stumbled through an unseen door. It was Keith, bloody and bruised from a battle.

Night fought the urge to approach him.

He's not real. This isn't real!

The fake Keith staggered towards her, voice hoarse.

"Night... Help me. Save me. Forget Gold. Help me. I'm dying."

NIght looked into the empty eyes of fake-Keith. She stared him down, ignoring the injuries he had.

This isn't real.

"Listen to me, Night. There's no point. Just give up."

Give up.

That sounded so easy for Night, but she wouldn't do it. She wasn't a quitter.

Keith tripped, falling forward. She resisted the temptation to catch him and instead stepped back, letting herself see the knife sticking out of his back.

Night gasped.

No. This is fake. Keith is fine.

Fake-Keith looked into her eyes, tears of false sadness running down his bloody cheeks.

"I thought you were better than this, Night. I trusted you."

Night choked on her breath.

What?

"Night... You betrayed me... I..."

Keith closed his eyes, breathing slowing.

No! Don't be dead! Don't be- Wait. This isn't real. Not really real.

The fake Keith vanished.

Dreammaster spoke.

You did better than I expected. Much better. But can you handle this?

Night narrowed her eyes. She sensed someone behind her. She turned around but was too slow. A man tackled her from behind. She recognized his grip, his tackle.

Xander.

She rolled over, kicking at his face. But Xander caught her ankle and flung her across the room. She landed with a hard thump.

Spirit-Xander looked the same as usual Xander, but there was something about him that made Night want to run in terror and hide.

I need a weapon.

Night commanded the spirit world to give her the bayard.

A bayard appeared in her hands.

Impossible, shouted the Dreammaster. How?

But it wasn't her bayard. It was the black bayard.

Why am I using Keith's bayard?

Night turned it into a weapon, the same twin blades she always used. But something was different. Something felt... off... about how the blade was built. Instead of silver and gold, the double sword was all black, blade and handle almost one.

Xander rushed at her, mace held high. Night raised the blade towards the sky, expecting lightning, but instead, a ball of dark energy shot out from it. Night gasped. It was spirit-energy. It hit Xander in the chest, and he was pushed back. But given his body size, he recovered quickly, growling.

Night spun her blades, pushing Xander back. They locked blades, mace against the blade. Night looked into his eyes, which burned with rage, an unnatural shade of gray.

Remembering what she did with Keith, she slipped out from under him, appearing behind him. She brought the blade down hard on his neck, somehow entirely decapitating him.

His head fell off and hit the ground with a sickening squelch. the rest of his body vanished, and the head gave away to a vial of shimmering liquid. Night grabbed it. It might help Gold.

Dreammaster's disgusting voice sounded again. How did you summon your bayard?

I don't know. How did you get your stupidity?

Stop playing around. Your last challenge is beginning. You must fight yourself.

What?

Night whipped around, readying her weapon. The blade was turning back to her Gold bayard form.

How?

Soon it was fully back in Gold form, and Night squared off, looking for a threat.

A shadow flashed against the corner. Night whipped around weapon at the ready.

She glanced something, but it was too quick. It leaped over her, and Night held her blade over her head, hoping to trip it. The figure landed, and Night gasped. It was herself.

Dark-Night was the same, but shadowy and wispy, with blood red eyes and a harsh grin.

Night glared at herself. Dark glared back. Just to try something, Night feinted left. Dark feinted left, too.

Night sighed. She would either have to kill herself, as in actual herself, to die, or find a way around this. Night noted that Dark's blade was not Gold, but black. She raised it to the sky, and a bolt of lightning shot out. Dark did the same, but the dark energy came out.

The two collided, forming a ball of dark and light. Night pushed forward, and the lighting pushed forward, too. But so did the dark energy. Night realized they were evenly matched.

She observed that there was a small delay between her and Dark's moves. Night broke concentration for a moment and then resumed focus. the dark bolt screamed towards her but then receded, shoved back by the lightning. The bolt hit Dark, and Dark flew back. Night also felt the pain. She screamed. It felt horrible like she was being held over a fire while having vinegar poured on her.

Night realized she felt the same pain as Dark, which meant she would have to kill herself in the least painful way possible.

Night rushed at Dark, who still lay on the floor from the blast. But Dark stood up, face filled with hatred. Dark spoke, words stinging Night.

"I know all your secrets, Night. Your fears, your hopes, your dreams. I know how you feel about Lance, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith. I know what you feel towards Allura."

"No! You don't know anything! This isn't real! You're fake, and I'm going to beat you!"

Dark's face spread into a grin. "Oh, if I'm not real, then is this?"

An image appeared behind Dark, and Night stared at it. It was her, sitting in Gold, twitching and yelling in pain. The other paladins surrounded her, holding her down. Keith was sitting down, holding her hand, trying to shake her from the spirit world. If Night focused, she could feel his hand on hers. Night shook it off.

"Stop teasing me, Dark."

"That's what you're going to call me, huh?"

"Yes. Dark."

Another vision replaced the old one. It was Keith, standing next to Lance, but instead of exchanging the glances that they usually traded, they were glaring at each other. They started fighting, and Night screamed.

"Stop!"

Dark smiled again. "You care about them, don't you. But do they care for you?"

"Keith is my half-brother! Of course, he cares about me!" Night yelled. This was now a battle of emotions and words, not strength and pain.

"Are you sure he actually cares for you, Night?"

Night screamed in rage and hurled herself at Dark. They both hit the ground, rolling around in anger. Night punched Dark in the shoulder, and Night's shoulder stung. Night grabbed her blade off the floor and held it to Dark's throat.

"This is over, now."

Dark just smiled. "You're scared to kill me, Night. I know you are."

"No, I'm not. But you're scared of the truth, Dark. You're just an image. A nothing. I'm not scared. You are. I know you are."

Dark's confidence wavered for a second, and Night braced herself for the pain. She stabbed Dark in the chest, screaming in pain. Then it was over. She could feel Dark leaving her, making her feel better.

She sighed, rubbing her hand over her chest. A red box materialized, and Night grabbed it. It was another vial, of pure liquid gold.

Dreammaster spoke. You did well. I expected you to die.

Will you take me to the plane of dreams, now?

No. You were already there, the whole time. It's amazing what you do when you are really motivated. You killed yourself, let your half-brother die, and even had no mercy; slaying your worst enemy.

What?

Yes. You gave yourself so much determination you took yourself to the plane and got yourself the things you need to fix your Lion.

How?

You are strong. You may have powers I do not know of.

Thank you.

Dreammaster grinned, swishing its robes. Until next time, Katya Kogane.

The whole plane shifted and Night was standing in front of Gold. She held the spoils of her fights up, and Gold took them in a battered paw. They vanished, and Gold glowed a pale white.

Then Night was sitting back in Gold's pilot chair, everything perfectly restored.

She gasped.

How did I do that?

Night walked out of Gold. Gold was fully repaired, looking brand new.

"How... How did I do that?"

Gold turned on fully, spreading her wings even when they pushed against the walls of the hangar. Gold looked down at Night, and she placed her hand on Gold's nose. A jolt of energy shot through her, making her feel less tired. Night smiled, and if Gold could smile, she would be.

Night pulled her hand away and sat down.

"I'm glad you're back, Gold. You're one of my best friends, you know?"

Gold bowed down, allowing Night to climb onto Gold's head. Night did, perching on top of the hatch.

"I really missed you. I was afraid, you know. It's like losing a friend, and if I lost you... you know... I don't know what I would do."

Night slid down Gold's back and climbed down gently. She jumped to the ground, ready to leave. Night opened the doors to the hangar.

She turned to Gold. "I'm just glad you're here."

Night sat back down on her bed, sighing with exhaustion. She was so tired from her ordeals in the spirit world. Night had told everyone about her trials. All the paladins had reacted really... strangely.

Pidge was fascinated by the fact that Night had managed to take objects between different planes, because due to physics and the law of blah blah blah...

Hunk just really... was Hunk. He didn't judge and just reassured Night that everything was going to be okay. He even gave her extra dessert.

Lance and Keith had reacted in about the same way. They started asking tons of questions, then asked about Black in the spirit world, then Dark, then Xander, then basically everything that had happened.

Now Night was tired. Really tired. She opened the holo-computer, pulling up a database of the spirit world. She found an interesting map and got sucked into the articles and facts on it. When she finally raised her head from the computer, it was 11:47 at night.

She groaned, pulling open her chest of clothes. She took off her tunic, putting on her bedclothes instead. Night shoved the tunic back in the clothes chest.

Night's fingers brushed against a rough fabric.

What?

She pulled the article of clothing out.

It was the same red leotard.


	10. Lotor's Challenge

Night poked her head around the corner of the hallway, squinting, trying to adjust to the dim light.

"Lance said the pool was right here." Night muttered to herself.

"Lance said what, now?"

Night whipped around. Lance stood in the shadows, wearing his trademark green army jacket and dark blue jeans.

"You... you really have to stop sneaking up on me like that." Night pulled on her black braid.

Lance shrugged. "Sure, whatever. Anyways, what did I say?"

"You said that there was a pool," Night said. "But I don't see one."

"Ahh... The pool is down there. You have to go through the door. Did you even pack a swimsuit, anyway?"

Night held up the crimson red leotard from the Spirit World.

"Where did you get that, Night?"

"The spirit world. Didn't I tell you yesterday?"

Lance nodded slowly, not really processing his thoughts properly. Lance was tired

NIght pushed open the doors of the elevator, stepping inside. "I'll see you later, Lance."

The doors slid shut, and Night exhaled. The walls were light and clean in the elevator, but the chamber was still small. Night hated small spaces. They made her anxious.

The elevator stopped, and Night stepped out into the room. The pool was upside down.

"What? How does that even work? And how am I supposed to swim?"

Night put on the red leotard, folding her tunic neatly by the side of the pool. The floor was cold and smooth beneath her bare feet.

She glared up at the messed-up pool.

How am I even supposed to get up there?

Night saw two ropes at the far end of the room and picked them up. She tied them together, creating a lasso.

Night flung the ropes, attaching them to one of the ornate pillars that flanked the pool. She pulled herself up.

The clear, glassy water was now directly above Night's head, and she touched it with one cautious finger. Then she stuck her head into the water, pushing her shoulders in, too. All of the sudden, she felt right-side up. Her vision flipped, and the pool looked normal.

Night let herself sink to the bottom of the pool, relishing the feeling of being alone.

She floated back up to the top and swam to the edge. Night sighed blissfully and pushed off, starting to swim a few lengths.

Night noticed a metal track at the bottom of the pool. It was about as wide as her finger, and about one finger deep. She took a deep breath, then dove down towards it. The metal piece appeared to be an inscribed plate, in some language Night could not read.

Interesting.

Night ran out of breath and resurfaced, dragging her arms languidly over the water's surface.

Suddenly, a voice sounded below her. Well, Night heard it as above her, because she was upside-down.

"Oh. You're here."

It was Keith, standing on what Night interpreted as the ceiling.

"Keith? What?"

"Hi, Night. How did you get up there?"

Night frowned. "No, how are you standing on the ceiling?"

"What? No," Keith frowned back. "You're floating in an upside down pool, on the ceiling."

"Oh... I used that." Night pointed to the rope she had attached.

Keith looked up at Night. "Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"I dunno. Lance said there was a pool, and I wanted to check it out. What are you doing here?"

"Honestly," Keith sighed. "I kind of just wanted to be alone."

"Same here." Night agreed.

Keith shook his head. "Well, that's not gonna work, is it?"

"Well," Night grinned. "You could leave!"

"You could, too." Keith smiled back at Night.

Night crossed her arms. "I was here first."

"You are too much for this universe, Night. Honestly." Keith moved so he was standing directly below her.

All of the sudden, an alarm sounded. Night jumped up, forgetting she was upside down. The gold paladin fell twelve feet to the ground.

"Ow! Stupid Altean pools! What's going on?" Night asked, picking herself up off the ground.

Keith ran towards the door. "I don't know! But that alarm means we have to get to the control room, now."

"I'm wearing this!" Night protested. "I can't fight if we have to! Let me get into my armor! Please!"

"No! We're going, now!" Keith grabbed Night's wrist, dragging her out the door.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

Night and Keith thundered into the control room, panting, gasping for breath. Night had left a trail of water behind them. She sank into her control chair, completely winded. She had just run the full length of the castle.

The other paladins came in behind her, all in full battle gear. Except for Keith, who was wearing his red jacket still.

Great. Seriously, Keith? They had time to put on their armor.

Allura stormed up to the front. "Night!" She snapped. "Why aren't you in armor?"

"Keith isn't in armor, either." Night pointed out.

Allura glared at her. "I don't care about what Keith is wearing. Get in your armor, now. Lotor is approaching."

"What?" Keith gasped. "Everyone to your lions! Hurry up!"

Night sprinted out the door, towards her hangar.

She turned around sharp corners, grabbing her armor out of her room on the way. Night hopped into the leg pieces, pulled on the chest plate, and was putting on the arms when she slammed through the doors of her hangar and bolted into Gold.

Night shoved on the rest of her armor, cringing at the wet feeling. She slid her helmet over her damp hair.

"Guys? What's the plan?"

Keith's face appeared on the screen. "We take out Lotor, now."

Night frowned. "Who is Lotor, exactly?"

"Dude," Lance said. "He's our main enemy, here."

"Ohhh... So this will be a tough battle? Like, really hard?"

Pidge's face appeared on the screen, too. "Yeah. Make sure you're ready."

"Considering I was at the pool ten minutes ago, I'm probably not ready. My hair's still wet."

All the paladins laughed half-heartedly.

"Alright, paladins. Enough talking. Let's go."

Night shot out into space, taking in her surroundings. They were near two twin stars, creating an eerie light of blue and red over the battlefield.

Night spotted Lotor's ship over the red star. Everyone else did, too, as all the lions sped after the streamlined ship which Night recognized as the fighter she had seen on her mission with Lance a few days ago.

They flew in their formation after the ship, which was way faster than it looked. It weaved through Keith's fire easily. Night heard Keith growl in frustration.

Suddenly, a voice sounded through all of their cockpits.

"Greetings, Paladins."

"Lotor." Night heard Allura snarl.

"That's me. Now, don't shoot, I come in peace."

Night sighed. His voice was getting annoying already. It was sickly sweet, and dripping with danger.

"What do you actually want, Lotor?" Keith asked.

Lotor laughed. "Well, I see you have a new lion, and I'd like to see how it flies. I want to challenge it. You win, and I guess you kill me, leaving the empire with no leader. I win, well, that's that."

Night gulped.

Why had Lotor singled her out first?

"How do we know this isn't a trap?" Lance tested.

Lotor laughed his stupid, annoying laugh again. "It's not, trust me. You can stay with the gold lion if you want, but no shooting."

"Guys," Night sighed. "I'll do it. I'll be fine, I think. Just let me kill this Lotor guy, for once and for all."

"You better be careful, Night. Lotor has dirty tricks in play." Pidge warned.

"I know. Don't wait for me." Night, overcome with sudden confidence, sped after Lotor's ship.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

Night faced Lotor in the range between the two stars. Gold growled and clawed at the fabric of space.

"Whenever you're ready," Lotor encouraged. "I don't mind."

Night fumed in anger. This guy was so annoying. Gold charged at Lotor, firing a quick storm of lasers, but, as before, Lotor just easily dodged them.

She sighed. Maybe Gold has lightning? Night summoned her bayard and placed it on the control panel. All of the sudden, Night heard Gold's wings shifting aside, making room for something else. It was a cannon.

Night lined up the crosshairs with Lotor's ship, and the cannon locked onto the target. But before she could fire, Lotor shot at Night.

Gold's wings blocked most of the shots, but it threw Night off balance and caused her to lose her aim on his ship. She took a deep breath and realigned the cannon. And fired.

A bolt of lightning sped out of the cannon, and Night smiled.

But Lotor weaved in between the tendrils of electricity. She growled in frustration.

His ship is way too agile.

They flew in and out, weaving through the skies of space. Night tried to catch him, but Lotor was far too fast. His ship appeared to be modified for speed.

Night dove through a cloud of space dust, Gold's wings flaring out as she moved. She sped towards Lotor but couldn't catch up with him. They were back between the two stars now, but Night could feel a magnetic force emanating from the blue star.

I wonder if that will have any effect on my lighting?

Night summoned the shoulder cannon again, narrowly avoiding Lotor's shots. She zeroed in on his ship and fired.

The magnetic field seemed to have no effect on her shots, at first. The bolt screamed towards Lotor, and time seemed to slow down.

Lotor began to pull his ship out of the way, but halfway through, the lightning began to transform.

First, it thickened into a rod about as long as the training deck, and about as wide as Gold. Then it began to take shape, morphing into a dragon that hurled through the sky.

Night gasped.

Lotor took no notice, still busy with maneuvering out of the way. The bolt, if it had traveled in a straight line, would have passed by him, but the dragon turned, its electric eyes locking onto the ship.

Now Lotor noticed. He zoomed out of the way, but Night, the dragon, and Gold followed. The dragon was almost more agile than Lotor's ship. Dragon chased after ship, twisting and turning. The dragon flipped around, bringing its tail onto Lotor's ship. Lotor spun out of control, flying away towards the red star. Gold sped after him.

The dragon dissipated, but the damage had been done.

Night brought Gold's bladed wings down on Lotor's ship, tearing deep lines on its side. She growled in rage, wings cutting deeper. Gold dragged her claws along the ship's front.

Lotor tried to shoot, but the dragon had damaged the blasters.

Then Lotor spoke.

"Enough. You win."

Night ceased her cutting but kept a firm grip on the damaged ship.

"You fight well," He noted. "Much better than I expected from such a young pilot."

Night sighed, tired from flying so hard. "Alright. However, I didn't kill you, so what do we do now?"

"I have something," Lotor began. "It's kind of... a deal."

"A deal?" Night echoed.

Lotor laughed. "That's right. You fight just as well as some of my best pilots."

Night had no idea where Lotor was going with this. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying," Lotor explained. "How about you ditch this paladin business and work for me? We could be powerful, you see. Controlling so much. Kty'hipta would be remembered in history, forever. You could-"

NIght cut him off. "Stop. I'm not taking your job offer."

"Are you sure? You could live a life of luxury." Lotor's voice was deadly quiet.

"I'm sure." Night said.

"But, think. You could get away from Allura..."

Night frowned. She wasn't going to bow and bend to Lotor's persuasion. Even if she barely knew him.

"I already said," Night growled. "I'm not taking your job."

Lotor shifted in his ship, causing Night to readjust her grip. "Alright, have it your way."

Suddenly, a battle cruiser appeared on the horizon. It sped towards Night, ensnaring Gold in a heavy, purple tractor beam.

Night tried to fight it, but the beam was too strong.

"Lotor! What are you doing?"

"Consider it a favor. Life as a paladin is hard. Why live like that? And don't worry. I treat my prisoners nicely."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Night slammed her fist into the door again, to no avail. Lotor had taken her captive aboard the cruiser. And said the only way she could be freed was if she agreed to the job. Or else she could say goodbye to Gold and the others.

She had tried to contact the other paladins, but something about the magnetic field of the twin stars interfered with her signals.

Don't wait for me, she had said.

Why did I say that? They probably think I'm fine right now.

Night sank to the floor. Lotor had left her a heaping serving of real food, the first she had seen in a few weeks, but Night refused to eat.

So help me if I starve. Better than working for this guy.

She picked up the loaf of bread and threw it across the room. It thudded to the floor. Night sighed.

There would be no escaping. Lotor had taken her bayard and Cygnus. She had no weapons beside herself.

At least she was treated nicely. Night had heard of some Galra soldiers torturing their prisoners and forcing them to fight. Apparently, Pidge's brother, Matt, had been one of those prisoners. And Pidge was intent on searching the whole universe for him.

Night looked around her confinement. It was nice, probably all to convince her that life as a Galra soldier was nicer than a paladin's life. She was sitting on the floor, a large, luxurious bed on her right, a table with tons of food in the middle, and a large couch on the left. It was almost too much.

She was used to a small space, and not many things. Having too much stuff made it hard to concentrate for Night.

Night stood up, pacing the length of the room. She had set down her helmet on the table; trying to call for help was useless.

She picked up the golden helmet, turning it over in her hands. Night, again tried radioing for help, but no one answered, only the lonely voice and whisper of static.

Night sat down on the bed. She was tired. Lotor had allowed her free run of the ship; she could go anywhere but the control room. The only rule was no killing guards.

But Night preferred to stay in her quarters. Going outside would only remind her of the castle, with its long halls and pale light.

Night heard a voice.

"Hello?"

Night looked up. It was her helmet. The paladins were there! She ran over to the table.

"Anybody there?" It was Lance.

"Lance?"

"Night?"

Night heard Lance speaking to the others. "Night's alive! She's okay!"

"Wait," Night said. "How did you reach me? And how did you know I was in trouble?"

"Well first of all," Lance explained. "Pidge hacked through the magnetic field and found your helmet as the only non-galra communication in the area, so we figured it was you. And Black started acting really weird, like not listening to Keith and all that, so we figured something was up. Anyway, where are you?"

"Lotor took me, prisoner. I beat him, but he was, you know, weird, so he took me hostage and wants me to work for him. Because I have inside info on you guys."

Keith cut in. "He took you, prisoner?"

"Oh, hey Keith. Yeah, I'm a prisoner. But I'm being treated fine. I think he's trying to persuade me to work for him. He really wants me to, for some reason. I'm not even that good at flying!"

"Alright," Pidge began. "I have a map of the battle cruiser. I could scan it from here. It's got heavy defense, so us rescuing you isn't an option. Instead, I'm gonna send you to escape plans, and you're gonna get yourself out of here."

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me. You're getting yourself out!"

"I can't do that!" Night protested, keeping her voice down.

Pidge sighed. "Yes, you can. I'm sending the escape plans to you in a minute."

Night sat down in the chair. She sighed.

How am I supposed to break out of this ship!? Lotor will kill me!

Her helmet displayed a complex document and NIght transferred it to a bigger screen, the holo-screen on her wrist. It was a multi-level, three-dimensional map of the cruiser, complete with a bio-rhythm scan that showed all signs of life.

Below were detailed instructions on how to get out, with a route and hangar guide on getting Gold free from her "prison".

"Pidge, how do you know all this?"

Pidge sighed, again. "I was researching prisoners and Galra tech to see if I could find anything out about Matthew and his prison. I guess it paid off."

"Thanks, Pidge."

"Anytime. Now, you need to escape. The thing is perfectly timed with the guard timetables, so you will have the best opportunity to escape unnoticed. I know you don't have a weapon, so you'll need to be careful. The map shows you where your bayard is." Pidge explained.

Night looked at the document and took a deep breath.

Alright, Nightshade. Time to escape.


	11. Escape

Night took one long look at the instructions for escape. This was it. Life or death. Well, not really, because Lotor let her wander everywhere.

She pressed the open button for the door, and it slid open with a hydraulic whoosh. Night took one step out into the open. A map popped up on her armor, telling her to go left. According to Pidge, the route would lead her safely to an escape route.

She was lead through the twisting hallways that all looked the same. The same, purple-lit hallways, with metal floors and pillars at every few feet or so. Night reached a small room, where the door was locked. Her map beeped.

Night held up the map, squinting.

Why did Pidge have to make the writing so small?

The map beeped again, telling her to press her hand against the keypad. She did.

A scanner light passed through her, and it let her in.

It must be my Galra blood.

Night's dagger and bayard sat on a single table in the center of the room.

Wait, what if it's a trap?

She placed her hand on the table, just to check. Nothing happened. Night pushed her bayard to the left. Nothing. She picked it up. Nothing, still. She grabbed both of her weapons. No alarms sounded, no guns shot her down. She turned out of the room and ran straight into a sentry.

Night yelled in surprise. The sentry raised his gun, but Night stabbed him with Cygnus and had to drag the body behind the table.

Can't let them know I'm here.

The night continued on, feeling a bit more confident now that she had both her weapons.

Her map turned red, alerting her that this was the more dangerous part of the mission.

Here we go.

Night snuck past a cluster of guards and ducked into a separate engine room. Her map told her she had to shut down the exit/entrance alert system to prevent alerting the guards that doors had been opened. If Lotor noticed that random doors were opening when a guard wasn't scheduled to, there would be problems.

She had to take down three more guards in the engine room. Her map was telling her how to shut down the codes and engine, but Night wasn't really getting it.

What is a quintessence semi-converter anyways? And what does it mean to override the manual bypass system?

Oh well.

Night figured it wouldn't be too important. A system as a system, right? She swept her bayard across the whole control panel, shutting it down.

Then she ran out into the hallway. And cursed. A group of guards was running towards the room, alerted by the shutdown. Night summoned her bayard and blasted half of them with her lighting. Then she squared off against the remaining four.

They surrounded her, ready to shoot. Night leaped up, back-flipping outside the circle. Then she cut all of them down.

There we go. But I can't hide all of these bodies. I'm almost there, anyway. It shouldn't matter.

Night followed the map down to the hangar where Gold was being kept and opened the door, again.

But something was wrong. Someone was inside Gold. Night glared up, trying to see. It was…

Lotor?

Lotor was sitting inside Gold, trying to make it fly. Luckily, Gold wasn't responding at all, Lotor was having no luck. Night shoved her dagger into her armor, hiding it, and vanished her bayard. Just in time. Lotor noticed her and climbed down from Gold.

Get your hands off my Lion, thank you very much.

"Why, hello Night. What brings you here?" Lotor asked, kindly.

Night clenched her fists. "What were you doing with Gold?"

"Oh, nothing at all," Lotor dismissed, waving his hand. "I just wanted to see how it flies. But it won't turn on!"

"Gold is mine, Lotor. I don't want you touching her." Night took a step forward, looking up at Lotor.

Lotor smiled. "Anyways, have you come to accept your job?

"Never," Night shot back. "I'm not taking your stupid job. What would I do, anyway?"

"Oh, that's a good question. Well, I could put you in charge of a fleet, and you could have your own team and battle cruiser. Even your own ship!" Lotor explained.

"I already have my own ship," Night pointed out. "And that doesn't sound like an interesting job. Would I get paid?" She was just buying time, trying to come up with a plan to get Lotor to leave.

"Of course you would get paid. Who do you think I am? Zarkon? Anyways, about 100,000 GAC a month, and trust me, it is interesting."

100,000 GAC? That's like… a million Kty'hiptan Ruble! But I'm not taking the job. They probably steal the money from planets they destroy.

Night crossed her arms. If he wants it this way, I'll pretend I want the job. "Alright, if I take the job, could I get promoted?"

"Of course! Anything!" Lotor's eyes lit up.

Night smiled. It was working! "What about more fleets?"

"Yes," Lotor clapped his hands. "More fleets for you!"

"Okay…"

Lotor rubbed his hands together. "So are you taking the job?"

"Umm… I have to think…" Night feigned thinking.

"Certainly!" Lotor said. "Take all the time you need."

Night placed her hand on Cygnus, gripping the handle.

"Ok, thanks."

She turned to leave, but then flipped around, ready to stab Lotor. But Lotor was quicker. He drew a curved blade and blocked Night's stab.

"You're silly," Lotor chuckled. "You thought I would buy it that easily? And now we have to fight. Shame. I hate fighting."

Night groaned. She summoned her bayard in her left hand, then switched it to her right, dropping the dagger to the ground.

Lotor swung his sword at her, smirking. Night countered the strike with one blade, then brought the Silver's flat side down hard on his wrist, trying to disarm him. But Lotor barely flinched at the metal slamming down on his small wrists.

How?

He spun around, coming to a stop in the perfect fighting stance. His sleeve fell down a little, and Night spotted a black gauntlet on his wrist.

So that's what protected him.

The gauntlet looked like it was made of metal, but Night suspected something stronger, as not many things would stand up to Night's blade. It was also flexible.

Night rushed at Lotor, summoning a quick shot of lighting that made him gasp in shock.

"You're one of them," Lotor yelled, trying to decapitate her. "A Sky Guardian!"

Night danced out of Lotor's reach. "What's a sky guardian?"

"They're a-" Lotor stopped. He placed his weapon on the ground.

Night glared at him. "What are you doing?"

"Look," Lotor explained. "I can't have a sky guardian in my ship. I'll let you go. Just leave. Please!"

"Not until you tell me what a Sky Guardian is!" Night kicked Lotor's weapon out of reach, and it skidded across the floor.

Lotor's eyes were wide in fear. "Fine!"

"Go ahead." Night stood straight, almost coming up to Lotor's shoulder.

"Alright," Lotor took a deep breath.

"A few years ago, one of my father's commander's, Sendak, travled to a stormy planet. It was empty, save for an abandoned village, high in the clouds. Upon further inspection, he saw ghostly spirits flying in the clouds. Sendak tried to communicate with them, but they created a storm, captured him, and blasted his arm off with lighting. He barely made it back, and Zarkon was furious. He banned anyone from going to that planet again and journeyed to it himself to see if he could take revenge on the spirits that crippled Sendak. But the storm spirits had disappeared, promising only that they would destroy the Galra empire someday. Zarkon says that they fled and are scattered around the galaxy. You are one of them. You have lightning."

Night growled under her breath. "I'm not a storm spirit. I come from Kty'hipta."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you're not a storm spirit." Lotor glared at Night.

"Wait. Each of the paladins has their own element. Keith with fire, Lance, water and ice, Pidge, nature, and Hunk, earth. That means that my element is the sky."

Lotor gasped. "So... You're a guardian spirit?"

"I guess. What is that, anyway?" Night asked.

"Guardian spirits were people that possessed powers of their element and were in charge of making sure that the element and object were well looked after," Lotor explained.

Night raised an eyebrow. "So... You don't think I'm bad?"

"I still think you're bad," Lotor dismissed, making Night's anger surge forward "Guardian spirits are never as good as they seem. They always seem so majestic, so powerful, when really they turn out to be a scrawny little child. What is up with that?"

Night clenched her fists but tried to remain calm. One of the many things she had learned was when people said bad things about you, they were just trying to make you mad, so you would lose focus.

Scrawny? Little child? I'm seventeen!

"You know what, Lotor?" Night retorted. "I may be young, and not at all majestic, but I'm still powerful."

She hefted her bayard skyward, and a smaller version of the dragon from earlier shot towards Lotor. Lotor dodged out of the way and the dragon careened past him, whipping around for another charge.

Night split her bayard into the twin swords, and the dragon stared at them.

"NO!" She yelled. "GO FIGHT!"

The dragon didn't move but still stared at her blades. Then Night realized. The dragon was commanded by the two blades. She thrust them forward, and the dragon followed after Lotor.

Lotor grabbed his sword and tried to cut the dragon down, but it was too fast. Night closed her eyes, seeing through the eyes of the dragon. She twisted and turned, barrelling after Lotor.

She scooped him up in her jaws and threw him towards the ceiling.

"That's for calling me scrawny!"

She caught him and slammed him on the ground. Lotor screamed and begged her to stop, but all Night heard was the dragon's roar.

Night opened her eyes; the dragon had dissipated. Lotor stood on the ground in front of her, bruised and battered.

"Please, Nightshade... Have mercy on me." Lotor's voice was tight with pain.

Night glared at him. "Are you sure? You tricked me. You tricked me twice. You tried to make me leave my friends behind."

Lotor choked on his breath. "No... I'm sorry... Please..."

I'll spare him. I'm not that cruel.

Night threw down Lotor's blade, and he yelped in fear. Then she strode towards Gold. She climbed into her, and blasted straight through the hangar doors, without once looking back.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Night's back, everyone!" Pidge announced.

Night smiled. "I'm standing right here. I think everyone knows that."

Only a few minutes ago, she had pulled into her hangar, only to find Pidge there, waiting for her. Apparently, Pidge had been sitting there for ten hours, just waiting for Night to come back.

Night saw Keith sigh in relief. Pidge had told NIght that Keith had been worried sick, but he had tried not to show it.

Lance clapped his hands, drawing attention to the front of the control room.

"Alright. I hate to break this reunion, but while you were away, we were discussing final battle plans. Your attack on Lotor probably weakened him severely, so we think now would be a good time to strike."

Night tilted her head to one side. "What's the plan?"

"The plan," Pidge said, bringing up a screen. "Is amazing!"

Hunk scrolled down to a map of a nearby star system. "Here we have our battlefield. It has a good place for the castle to dock and provide covering fire. We lure Lotor there, using the Gold Lion as bait."

"Once we have him in place," Keith continued. "We strike. The area is tailored to our advantage, and if things get messy, we can pull up into a nearby asteroid field. The Lions will handle it fine, but Lotor's fleet won't. And if he takes his stupid single ship again, what chance does he have against six lions?"

Night took a deep breath. "So this is it, huh?"

"Yup." Lance nodded.

"I've got good news," Pidge began. "The Blade of Marmora is offering support for us, in case we need it."

"What's the Blade of Marmora?" Night asked, curious.

Keith jumped up. "Um... It's a society of underground Galra workers that secretly rebel against them. We met them a few months ago. They've been a great help."

"They're Galra?" Night said. "And why the Blade?"

"It's just a code name. But every member has a blade that they carry. It looks like this." Keith showed Night his knife.

Night gasped. "I have that blade." She brought out Cygnus.

It was the exact same as Keith's but a little shorter. They looked so... perfect, side by side.

Pidge looked up from programming probes. "Does that mean you're a member of the Blade?"

"More like... a Legacy member. I've never actually met this society." Night said.

Allura strode into the room, with a dark look on her face.

Oh, no. Night thought.

"Paladins! A rebel group arrived at the castle today, and are currently docking outside our ship. They would like to know if they could help with anything. Keith, Night, Lance, how about you go and welcome them."

Night stood up. "Let's go in Black."

"Sure." Lance and Keith followed close behind Night.

Lance muttered something under his breath.

Keith turned to Lance. "What did you say?"

"Um... I said... Are you sure we can trust these guys?" Lance turned his head sideways.

"Why would you say that, Lance?" Night asked, putting on her helmet.

Keith answered for Lance. "He's just being cautious. I mean, last time we helped 'rebels', the blue lion ended up almost being captured."

"Oh," Night said. "I understand. But we can trust them, right?"

"I hope," Keith replied. "I really, actually hope."

They reached Black's hangar, and Black turned towards Keith and bowed, making Lance and Night jump.

"Black does that to you?" Lance asked.

Keith nodded, climbing into Black.

Night gasped. "Wow! Black is so big!"

"Black is the biggest Lion," Lance said, pointedly.

Night sat behind Keith, and Lance perched on the edge of Keith's seat.

Keith pushed the thrusters forward. "Let's go, guys."

Black zoomed out into space, and Night spotted the rebel ship. It was a simple cargo ship, beaten and weary, but the message she got from the colorful decals was clear.

We are strong and will prevail. Don't stop us.

The ship turned as soon as it sighted them. Keith docked Black and the cargo vehicle came towards them. It's hatch opened, and a wolf-hybrid man gestured at them to come in.

Keith, Lance, and Night used their jetpacks to glide towards the small opening. Night got a closer look at the wolf-man.

He was tall but had a small frame, lithe and light. His eyes were piercing, yet warm, but the rest of his face was covered by an intricate mask in the shape of a wolf-face. The man had the tail and ears of a wolf, and his arms and legs were covered in a thick silver fur. His head was framed by short, close-cropped black hair.

"Welcome. We have expected your arrival." His voice was light but sharp, and slightly muffled through the mask.

Keith stepped forward. "Thank you, sir."

"No, thank you. You were the reason we decided to become rebels. Many years ago, our home planet became encased in ice. We were forced to escape and came across many planets inspired by Voltron. We decided to rebel against the Galra, the fools that overtook our star system. And please, call me Alpha."

Alpha turned to one of the basic computers. He entered some information, and pictures of various fighters came up.

Keith leaned over. "What's that?"

"This," Alpha explained. "Is a database of all our ships. Unfortunately, we could not bring all of them. Only a few small fighters. However, if you could get one of us aboard a Galra ship, we have the power to blend into shadows, and could hijack the ship."

Night peered at the available fighters. "That sounds like a good plan."

Alpha nodded. "Thank you. Now, I would like to discuss these plans in further detail with your princess. Allura? Could I board your ship, along with Lupa?"

"Who's Lupa?" Lance asked.

Alpha said something in a language Night didn't understand. "My advisor. I just summoned her."

A young she-wolf girl appeared out of the shadows. She was about Night's age, with silver hair and eyes with gray fur. Lupa also wore a similar mask.

Keith stood straight. "Alright. Come aboard our castle, and we can make plans there."

"Thank you," Lupa and Alpha said at once. "The Claw is with you."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"Please," Alpha rumbled. "I insist."

The wolves, after a brief meeting, were helping Hunk make dinner. They weren't really helping though. Mostly doing all the work and being really polite.

Night and Keith sat with Lance in the mess hall, waiting patiently and discussing the plan.

"This is it, huh, Keith?" Night asked.

Keith nodded. "What will you do after this?"

"I dunno. I could return to Kty'hipta. Or maybe go back to earth. With you guys." Night's eyes gleamed at the thought.

"That would be cool," Lance said. "You could go to Galaxy Garrison!"

"What's that?" Night asked, curious.

Keith answered. "It's the flight school Lance goes to and I used to go to. I think you'd like it."

"But what about Gold? And Voltron? Will the universe just... not need Voltron?" Night sighed. After a few months as a paladin, doing these things with the other five felt natural.

Lance leaned back in his chair. "I guess. If you go back to Kty'hipta, can we come and visit? I'll miss you."

"Really, though," Keith sat forward, thinking. "What's one thing you miss about your home planet most?"

Night laughed. "Which one?"

"Earth, I guess. Anyways, how did you get there? Kty'hipta, I mean." Lance asked.

Night took a deep breath.

"This will be confusing, but Keith, you know Xander? He was part Earthling, part Kty'hiptan. I don't know how he came to Earth, but he tried to kill me, but when that didn't work, he flew back to Kty'hipta. I stowed away on his ship. He tried to kill me again, but I fought back and lived on Kty'hipta. Xander was sentenced to jail but escaped. They're still looking for him, and I'll see him sometimes. It's scary."

"Wow," Lance exclaimed. "That was intense."

Keith sighed. "Back to my question. I honestly, really miss my hut."

"Your hut," Lance snorted. "Ha. Anyways. I really miss the rain."

Lance's eyes grew distant and sad.

"Why rain?" Night asked.

Lance turned to Night. "It's wonderful. Think. It's water, that falls from the sky and runs down your skin, and it's cold and sometimes warm, and it just feels so nice and clean and clear. I really miss the rain."

What's one thing I miss? Night asked herself.

"I really, really badly miss my old life. It was so simple, Wake up, work, come home, sleep. But now that I'm a paladin, it feels like there are so many new exciting things to do, and every day is a new adventure." Night answered.

Hunk stuck his head out from the kitchen.

"I miss regular food. Like, Earth food. Especially tacos."

"Speaking of food," Lupa walked in, carrying a tray of food. "Dinner is served."

Alpha followed, holding a pot of soup. The light from the castle reflected off his mask, making dancing light patterns on the table.

Night grinned.

Much better than space goo.

"Thanks, guys. That was so thoughtful."

Lupa set out bowls and spooned out heaping servings of the soup.

"Clam chowder, everyone!" Hunk announced.

Pidge and Allura slid into their seats. "I knew I smelled something delicious!" Pidge exclaimed.

Night scooped the food into her mouth hungrily; it had been months since proper food like this. The soup was creamy and smooth, and the clams were cooked perfectly.

"Hunk, this is really good!"

Hunk pointed to Lupa and Alpha. "Credit them. I just watched."

Lupa and Alpha bowed their heads, before accepting small bowls of soup.

Lance slammed his empty bowl down on the table.

"Refill, please. This stuff is amazing."

Lupa scooped more into his bowl, smiling. "The trick is extra cream," She explained. "Makes it nice and rich."

Hunk leaned forward. "Really? I thought that would mess it up!"

"No, not at all." Alpha shook his head.

Night rubbed her full stomach, which was feeling a little sore. Probably from eating so quickly. Or eating so much food in a few months. It was probably a shock to her stomach, eating actual food when she had been sustaining herself on a steady diet of Hunk's cookies and space goo.

Keith leaned back in his chair, sighing with delight.

"Man, that's like the best food I've had all year. But I think I ate too fast. My stomach hurts." He said.

Night sat up. "Really? Mine does, too."

"You guys are the fastest eaters," Lance noted. "You need to slow down. Chill."

"Yeah. Take the time to enjoy the food. Feel it's essence. The love put into making it." Hunk agreed, helping himself to his fifth bowl.

Keith stood up, stretching. "Well, if you guys don't mind, I'm just going to-" He stopped, eyes widening.

"Keith? What's wrong?" Lance looked from shoving his face into his food.

Keith grimaced. "Nothing. Just stomachache. You're right. I think I ate too fast," He doubled over in pain. "Really, really bad ache. Ow."

Night stood up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"No, I'm fine," Keith waved her off. "I just need to lie down or something."

She sat back down, stomach still a little sore, too. "Guys," Night announced. "My stomach hurts, too. Anyone know why?"

Lupa shot a worried glance at Night. "You're not allergic to anything, right?"

"No, not that I know of." Night shook her head.

A sharp pain stabbed into her gut. She groaned through her closed mouth.

Alpha stood up. "Are you sure? And are you okay?"

Night nodded, trying not to cry out in pain.

Why does my stomach hurt so much?

"Alpha!" Allura marched up to him. "What did you put in the soup?"

Lupa turned on Allura. "What does that mean?"

"You know darn well what I mean, Lupa." Allura glared at Lupa.

Night groaned as another wave of pain shot through her. Hunk stood up.

"Allura, are you saying Lupa poisoned Night?"

Allura nodded, never taking her eyes off the wolves. "And Keith, too."

Lupa shook her head. "We would never do such a thing. We are allies of Voltron."

"No," Allura said, voice deadly calm. "Get off my ship."

Lance jumped up. "Allura, no! We can trust them! They're our allies! We need them for the battle."

But Lupa and Alpha turned to leave. "We did not poison your Paladins, but if the princess wishes us away, we must."

The wolves melted into the shadows, and Night, through her pain, watched them leave.

"What was that for, Allura?" Lance waved his arms around frantically. "We just lost allies!"

Night crouched on the floor, breathing hard. Another wave of pain crashed over her, making red spots dance at the edges of her vision.

Why am I like this?

Allura glared after them.

"Those were not allies. I should never have trusted them."


	12. Call of the Battle

Night sat up in bed, looking around. Someone was in her room. She whipped her head to the left, spotting a dark shadow. Night sighed in relief. It was just Lance.

"Lance?" Night jumped out of bed, and figure stepped into the light. it was Lance. His face was worried, which wasn't usual for him.

"Night?" Lance frowned at her. "You're okay, right? Not poisoned or anything?"

Night shook her head. She felt fine, just tired. "Is Keith okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. I think." Lance nodded.

She sat back down on her bed. "So what happened to us?"

"I really don't know," He shrugged pointedly. "But no one else got sick."

"Maybe they did poison us, because they knew we were Galra. But it was just as a warning. Not to kill." Night suggested, smoothing the sheets on the bed.

Lance shook his head. "No, I don't think that's it. And Pidge says there are no poisons that could do that to you. And just Keith and you. They would have had to put the poison just in your soup. And you didn't see Lupa or Alpha put anything in it, did you?"

Night frowned, remembering the events from the night before.

"No, they didn't. I wasn't poisoned, then. It would either be the whole batch or none at all."

"Well, then," Lance leaned against the wall. "What even happened?"

"I have no idea, Lance." The gold paladin rubbed her eyes, trying to force herself to be alert.

Lance sighed. "I guess we can do more investigating tomorrow."

"I guess," Night echoed.

"I never got to ask you," Lance said. "When you came out of the healing pod, what did you mean by, 'save the cheese'?"

Night laughed. "Oh, that. I heard someone talking about paladins, and that's a type of cheese on Kty'hipta, so I thought we had to save cheese."

"Oh." Lance laughed, too. "Did you ever get to eat it?"

She shook her head, braids waving back and forth. "No. It's really expensive, because it's made with lots of cream, and cream is hard to find on Kty'hipta. We don't have many dairy cows."

Lance looked up. "Dairy cows?"

"Yeah, you know," Night explained. "Cows that make milk?"

"I know that, Night. But dairy. Maybe Keith is lactose-intolerant! I had a cousin who was, and every time she drank milk, she acted the same way you and Keith did!"

Night jumped up excitedly. "Let's go ask Keith!"

She grabbed Lance's wrist and dragged him down the hall to Keith's room.

The doors slid open, and Night ran over to Keith, who was sitting on the floor looking at his Galra blade. When he saw them, he threw it under the bed. Lance didn't see, but Night did.

Lance sprinted over to Keith, landing with a thunk on his bed. "Keith! Are you lactose-intolerant?"

Keith frowned at them. "What are you guys doing?"

"Just answer the question, Keith," Night said. "It's important!"

"Ok, ok, fine. I was as a kid, but I think I outgrew my intolerance." Keith explained. "I think."

Lance looked at Night and Keith. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah!" Night jumped up and down. "Keith is still lactose-intolerant and so am I,"

"And we weren't actually poisoned!" Keith finished.

Lance laughed. "I was thinking that we're Legendairy Defenders! But yeah, that too."

Night and Keith sighed.

"Enough with the terrible puns, Lance." Keith groaned.

The trio laughed, in spite of themselves.

Night realized something.

If Allura told the wolves to leave, but I wasn't poisoned, that means…

"Guys!" Lance and Keith looked up at her. "We… We lost allies, then." Her voice dropped to a whisper.

Keith's face fell. "We did. Valuable allies."

"It wasn't your fault, Night." Lance patted her on the back, but that didn't make Night feel any better.

She felt terrible.

I know it's not my fault, but maybe if I hadn't made my pain so visible, then the Wolves could've stayed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Night," Keith stood up. "We'll be fine. We all are great pilots, and our plan won't fail. I know we can do it."

Lance stood up beside Keith. "Agreed. This is the final battle, the final push. And we will win."

"We'll win," Night echoed. "Once and for all."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Keith walked briskly over to Allura's headquarters.

So we weren't poisoned.

He really wanted to tell Allura what happened, but there would be no more Wolf Allies for them.

"Allura? Can I come in?" Keith tapped gently on the door.

Allura and Pidge had been analyzing the soup for traces of poison, but so far had found nothing. And they never would.

"Is that Keith?" Allura's voice was tired.

Keith rubbed his hands together. "That's me."

"Come in. I've been meaning to talk to you for a while."

She has?

The doors slid open, reminding Keith of the day, a month ago, where he had been walking in after a day on the training deck.

That was the day everything changed.

Allura was sitting at her desk, samples of the soup and a holo-computer pulled up in front of her. She gestured to the chair next to her. Keith crossed the clean white room and took a seat.

"Allura, I have to tell you something." He took a deep breath.

"Go ahead, Keith." Allura nodded.

He told Allura about Lance's theory, and how Night agreed.

"So, yeah. We think Night wasn't poisoned."

Allura nodded slowly. "But we still cannot trust the Claw."

"But, Allura," Keith objected. "We lost valuable allies that night. They were the cutting edge in our battle."

She sighed. "An ally is someone we can trust. I did not trust them."

"We could trust them," Keith clenched his fists, angry. "It was just a case of lactose-intolerance!"

Allura turned on Keith. "How do you know?"

"Because," Keith tried to remain calm, but he was getting impatient. "If they had poisoned us, we would have been dead."

Allura sighed. "Alright. But there is no getting them back now."

Keith felt another surge of anger.

"It's your fault, you know?" He shouted at Allura.

She stepped back, to Keith's surprise. He had been expecting Allura to snap back at him and they would have an argument.

"I know. It was my fault." Her voice was tight with regret.

Keith's anger faded away to a feeling he quite couldn't place.

Empathy. I haven't felt that in a long time.

"You know what, Allura? It's fine. Let's call a group meeting and talk with the others about battle plans." Keith tried to sound patient, which was hard for him.

Allura sighed. "Okay. We'll meet in the main control room."

"Sounds good," Keith turned to walk out the door. "See you there."

"Wait, Keith," Allura called after him. "Are you mad at me?"

Keith sighed. "I'm not mad at you specifically, but yeah, I was pretty upset."

"Alright. It's fine."

Allura sat back down, dismissing Keith. He walked out of the room, and as the doors slid shut, he growled in anger.

Of course I'm mad at Allura. We lost allies.

Keith took a few deep breaths; something he did not do often.

But we're a team, right? And teams stick together.

Until the very end.

IIIIIIIIII

Night ran down the hallway, pulling random pieces of armor on as she walked. Just now, Allura had called a strategy meeting. She whipped her hair into the quickest braid she had ever done and slammed her helmet down on her head. Pidge sprinted up beside her.

"Hey, Night. Ready for a meeting?" Pidge panted, trying to keep up with Night's long-legged strides. Word of Night's lactose-intolerance had gotten out, and everyone was relieved to find that she hadn't been poisoned.

Night nodded. "Oh, yeah. I feel so excited for this, weirdly enough. Is that weird, feeling this way?"

"Nah, not really," Pidge opened the doors for the control room. They were the first ones there. "I felt like that before my first battle. And after we formed Voltron, that feeling… Wow."

They slid into their respective chairs. Pidge pulled up a computer of the battlefield, a complex three-dimensional map of the area. It was a complex field of asteroids which sat above a clear area. There also was a black hole nearby.

"Is that…" Night squinted at the hologram.

Pidge nodded, not at all concerned. "Yup!"

"But Pidge," Night waved her arms around frantically. "Won't we get sucked in and DIE?"

"Nope! The lions are resistant to all types of those things. I think."

That did not make Night feel any better about black holes. The door slid open behind her, making Night jump.

"Hey, guys!" It was Lance, followed closely behind by Keith. he looked sullen, and a bit mad, not at all hyped up like Night was.

Hunk and Allura strode in too, and took their seats, Allura up front.

"Alright, Paladins. Today is what will be our last stand against Lotor. The end to the empire. I trust in you, and your best instincts. We have spent many days preparing for this battle. I hope you realize your whole entire life has been gearing up to this moment."

Night gulped.

My whole life? All for this one battle?

Keith stood up. "All of you. We discussed our plans heavily and went over all the maneuvers you'll need. Like Allura, I hope I can trust all of you to make the right choices. Would anyone like to say anything?"

Keith sat back down, and Lance stood up, a rare serious look on his face.

"Really, guys. I'll just say it. It's going to be a tough battle. This is the Galra empire. The Galra. Our enemy. But I know we can do it. But if we don't make it," Lance sighed. "It was a pleasure flying with all of you."

Pidge glared at Lance. "Well, Lance. Thank you for the encouraging speech. I'm sure all of us appreciated it. Anyways. I'd just like to give a little pep-talk."

She cleared her throat in a businesslike manner.

"Alright. Being a Paladin is one of the weirdest, most fun, and perhaps strangest thing I've ever taken up, and believe me, I've done some crazy things. But, really. I would have never met real aliens, or Night, or even Keith. And I've learned so much along the way. The tech is incredible, and if we can replicate it on Earth, we'll progress so much faster than we usually do. I really hope we can take down the Empire. I really do."

Night stood up next to Pidge.

"Honestly, guys, I never would have been a Paladin if you hadn't come to Kty'hipta that day. And I don't regret any of it. Um… well, besides the time I ate space goo. Questionable choice. But all of you. I never usually say these things, but you guys mean so much to me. Even, you, Allura. And I know we can do it. This is it. And, all of you, please stay alive out there, okay? I believe in you."

Night sat back down, heart pounding. She never stood up in front of people and made speeches like that. Night was always shy. But now that she did that, she felt freer, more confident somehow.

The hologram flashed red. They were approaching the battlefield.

Night took a deep breath.

Alright. Night. You can't mess this up. This is real. Not a game. This is war.

Keith stepped onto the control panel (despite Pidge's protests), trying to get everyone's attention.

"Everybody! Get to your Lions, and into starting positions. We talked about this."

The Paladins rushed off, Night following close behind. But Keith grabbed Night's wrist.

"Night!" Keith looked down at the ground.

Night turned. "Yeah?"

"Night," Keith looked into Night's forest green eyes. "Please. Be careful out there. Really. I can't lose the only family I've got."

She choked on her breath. "Yeah. I'll be careful. You know I will, Kogane."

Keith smiled. "Alright, Katya."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Night pulled out of the Castle, into her ambush position. It was a lone asteroid, in the middle of the cluster. Gold touched down on it, sending up a small cloud of dust.

Once the dust cleared, Night could see Green, not far from Gold. If everything was working, Blue would be right above her, and Yellow and Black were at the outer edges.

The plan was to lure the main fleet into the edges of the field, where Keith and Hunk would attack, hopefully tearing through the most of the forces. By then, Lotor would be aware of the lions and send one fleet into the rocky area. Blue would take them down, due to Blue's powerful shots, it would be no big deal. Once the numbers were reduced, they would all come out and take out the rest. This would leave behind Lotor, and they would take him down. They were planning on not forming Voltron, due to the agility and versatility of the lions, but if it was needed, so be it.

Keith spoke, startling Night. "Alright, guys. This is it. Everyone in place, right? Pidge, radar scan?"

"Got it." Pidge entered her commands, preparing a long-distance scan.

Night felt the powerful sonar rays jar Gold, reaching out to the far corners of this galaxy.

She heard Pidge curse. "Guys. Lotor is coming. He's like, 5 minutes away. Get ready."

He's coming. Night felt her breath quicken, and she let it. There was no point trying to calm herself now.

The next five minutes felt like the longest of her life. She listened to everyone breathe, and tried not to focus on the fact that there was about to be a major battle. And that she might die.

Night sighed, rubbing her hands together. She patted the control panel and stroked her bayard, trying to do something, anything that would calm her down.

Pidge's yelling made Night jump in her seat.

"Guys! He's here. Get on with the plan." Pidge's voice was shaky but determined.

Night gulped, throat dry. Her palms got really sweaty, and suddenly her armor felt two sizes too big.

Calm down, Night. You've fought thousands of battles, and you'll be fine.

She gripped the controls. Thousands of battles on land. Not in a giant robotic Lion!

"Night! On your left!" Lance called out, and Night struck down a stray fighter into the asteroid next to her. It sent up a cloud of dust, and Night squinted, trying to see.

She could hear Yellow and Black taking down most of the fleets from their obscured position. By now, Lotor would have noticed them.

Night gripped the controls harder, tensing all of her muscles.

"Hey, Pidge," She asked. "How's it going?"

"Great. Allura's cannon took out, like five fleets at once! You have no idea." Pidge sounded upbeat, but also a little concerned.

Night nodded. "Alright. Keith is going to signal us to come out, right?"

"Yup! In fact, I just got the signal. Let's go!" Green took off, and Gold, along with Red, followed close behind. They tore through the sky in a triangle formation, Night leading the charge. No ships attacked, to her relief.

They met up with the others just outside the asteroid field. Night pulled behind Keith, in a tight triangle. The six lions faced the Galra empire. Night immediately sensed that the battlefield was tailored to their advantage. There were various obstacles like large rocks and small planets that the Galra ships would have trouble navigating. The Lions would have no trouble, and there was even a convenient tunnel through one icy moon for Night to fly through.

"Okay guys," Keith said. "Ready to charge? Pidge, Lance and Night, go to the left, towards that icy-moon-thing, and Allura, Hunk, and I will take the rest. We'll meet up here if things get bad."

Night couldn't help but smile. Keith was a good leader, and he had gained patience over a few months, learning to put himself before others and make sure there was a plan before rushing headfirst into things.

The group split up, and the Galra fleets rushed at them, a swarm of thick black fighters. Pidge cut through them easily and Lance, in Red, rolled through the crowd, explosions flashing behind him.

Night fired what was supposed to be a round of shots at a group of small fighters, but it came out as a bolt of lighting.

"Whoops." Night apologized. "Not that I'm complaining about having cool lighting or anything!"

Lance laughed, and turned back to gunning down ships. Red's fire speed wasn't the fastest, but the agility was enough to keep him going between rounds. Red was mesmerizing as he weaved in between the unsuspecting ships, attacking from behind then leaping in front. Lance had really mastered Red.

Night dodged an ion cannon on her right, and pulled up behind the cruiser.

Don't want another ion cannon incident!

She dragged Gold's claws along the side of the ship, and it burst into flames, exploding in front of her. A piece of debris caught her on the side of Gold, and her Lion tilted off balance. Night groaned and pulled Gold back into position, cursing herself.

I need to be way more careful.

She turned Gold around and saw Pidge rake Green's claws down the side of a huge battle cruiser. But instead of exploding, it just leaned to the side, almost squishing Pidge. Night sped over to Green, and Gold's wings shot out, pushing the ship away from Pidge.

Green slipped out from under the ship and shot off, leaving Night to dodge the falling cruiser.

"What was that for, Pidge?" Night yelled after narrowly escaping from being smashed.

Pidge winced. "Sorry. I tend not to think of others when I'm flustered." Her voice was sheepish.

Lance pulled in beside them.

"Guys, we cleared out this area. Let's get back to the others. We still have to deal with Lotor and his stuff, remember?"

Night fake-groaned. "Right. Lead the way, Lance."

"Whatever you say, Night." Lance chuckled to himself and sped away.

Pidge trailed close behind, and Night was right on Green's tail. Black was already waiting for them, with Blue.

"Where's Hunk?" Lance asked, getting back into formation.

Keith sighed. "I don't know. He was doing fine, and then next thing you know, he's gone! I have no idea?"

Night gasped. "We have to find him!"

"In case you haven't noticed," Allura sighed. "We're in the middle of a battle."

Night bit back a retort. "Alright. Let's hope he turns up, but if not, then we look, okay?"

The paladins murmured in agreement, but suddenly, a burst of light to Keith's left made everyone whip around. It was Hunk.

"Sorry guys! I got pushed off course," He swerved into formation. "Good news, I'm fine and we killed off most of the fleets. Bad news, Lotor's here, and he brought backup. A lot of backup."

Night looked around. "I don't see anything."

Right on cue, thousands of ships instantly appeared on the northern horizon, ready to attack.

"Oh, quiznak." Said everyone, all at once.

Keith turned around to face the determined group.

"Alright guys. This is gonna get tough. But it's the final battle. What did you expect?"

Night sighed. "Let's go!"

"You're right, Keith," Lance agreed. "Let's go down swinging."


	13. Final Battle

Night's phrase of the day, at this point, was clearly,

"Quiznak."

She yelled this when Galra ships decided to chase after her, when Lance almost veered into her flank side, and when Hunk made a terrible joke about cheese blintz.

Night pulled out of the way of a huge battle cruiser and shot at it. It exploded into a halo of light. Lance pulled around behind her slowly, to avoid smashing into Night and triggering another round of eardrum-shattering cursing, and together they took down a few fleets, but there were almost too many. The fleets just kept coming.

Where are all these quiznaking ships coming from?

She got edgier and edgier as the battle progressed, often shouting at others to focus when they already were, or screaming to 'move outta my way' when Pidge was already a whole planet-length away. Clearly, as Lance had said a few minutes ago, she need to take a chill pill.

"Oi, Lance, where do I get these chill pills?" Night called, cutting down a line of fighters with heavy fire.

Lance laughed. "Are you serious?" He smashed into a battle cruiser, making a highly explosive domino chain of ships.

"Of course I'm serious," Night snapped, pushing Lance out of the way of a falling cruiser. "I really need to chill, right?"

"No, they don't exist. It's just an expression, okay?" Lance explained.

Night pulled into a dive to counter a huge burst of ion cannon fire. "You're kidding me, right?" There was a pause. "Alright, not kidding. Whatever."

Pidge pulled in beside the duo, a panicked look on her face.

"Guys! I can't find Allura! We were supposed to meet up for an ambush, but she hasn't shown up. It's been five minutes past time!"

Night groaned. First Hunk, and now the Princess.

"I'll go look!" Night sped away without even listening or waiting for a reply from the others.

She rounded the battlefield, dodging fire from random ships, blasting through and over planets.

Where is Allura?

Night spotted a mass of ships clustering around... something? She flew in for a closer look. It wasn't Blue. It was Lotor's main battleship, the headquarters. Night didn't get very far before she was shooed away from heavy fire.

She wouldn't have been taken prisoner... Allura's too smart to have been captured. Unlike me.

Night pulled away for another lap of the area. She attempted a radar scan on Gold, but the battlefield was too thick with fire blasts and ships to find anything.

"Has anyone seen Allura?" Night yelled.

Four quick "nope"s answered her. She growled in frustration.

"You guys, we kind of need to find her, you realize?!"

"I thought you didn't like Allura," Keith commented. "Why are you so concerned about rescuing her?"

"She's a teammate," Night retorted. "And I thought you didn't like Lance! Why do you keep saving his Red Lion butt?" She watched Black take down a line of ships for Lance.

"I'm not!" Keith shot back.

Night switched her view to the other Lions. They were doing fine, Hunk and Pidge working together to ambush large fleets. Lance and Keith worked together, contrary to Keith's words, bringing down huge battle cruisers with one or two hits.

Who's working together, now? Night thought.

She peered through the smoke and debris, trying to spot the Blue Lion, but she was nowhere to be found. Night squinted. The radar was still useless.

Maybe I need to move to a clearer area.

Night pushed Gold up into a steep ascent, leaning back in her seat to counter the heavy forces. She was now above the battle, and from up here, it looked like absolute chaos.

How did I even fly in that?

Night activated the radar scan again, and this time, it worked much better. An image of all the nearby life-forms popped up, but that still didn't help at all. It was just a mass of bodies, due to all the Galra sentries and fighters.

Is there a way to filter this?

She typed in a few commands, trying to channel her Inner-Pidge technology skills. A menu popped up, and Night entered some more text, trying to cut out the Galra life-forms.

There we go!

The main bulk of the dots disappeared, leaving her with six dots, colored respectively for the Lions. Red and Black soared through the map together, surely leaving a path of destruction behind them. Green was on her own, probably setting up an ambush. It was an ambush, as Yellow was pulling in for a deadly fork. Then there was herself, high above the battlefield.

Now, where's Blue?

She entered another string of syntax, trying to detect Allura. The map shifted to the right, and Night sighted a cluster of planets.

Is that where Blue is?

She spotted a faint blue dot in the dead center of the system, on a lone, rocky planet. The dot flickered as she watched.

What does that mean?

The blue dot flashed red this time, an SOS.

That's a rescue signal! Allura is in trouble!

The flashing grew faster with every passing second. Night dove back down into the chaos, heading for the system of planets. She soon spotted it, but the planets were in disarray, scattered with no pattern. They had dangerous spikes and craters in them, and a needle-eye rock formation, with Night narrowly missed smashing through, and instead, whizzed through it, scraping her wings on the side.

Where's Allura?

After the needle, a clearing surfaced. The planets formed a ring around a larger planet, which was formed oddly. One half, the left side, was all ice, frozen solid, and the other half, on the right, was on fire. Blazing flames leapt all around her, and even through Gold, Night could feel the heat. A large pillar went straight through the axis of the planet, and she spotted Blue on a dangerous overhang, teetering over the edge of the lava.

Night urged Gold onwards, bearing the heavy heat.

I wonder if Gold can take all this heat?

A screen popped up on her dashboard.

Heat resistance shields? Night shrugged. It couldn't hurt, right?

She activated the shields and flew in even closer, pulling up right next to Allura.

"Allura? Hello? It's me! Night?" No response.

"ALLURA!?" Still, an empty silence.

Night got as close as she dared, avoiding a bubble of lava that rose up to swallow her.

Maybe she's unconscious!

She got a closer look at the cliff. It was pretty big, and strong enough to hold both Gold and Blue, who were some of the biggest Lions. There were claw marks in the ground, and divots in the spire from... laser blasts?

Blue was at an awkward angle, almost crashed into the ground. The front left leg was bent outwards, looking broken. The lion's tail was heavily damaged, too. Night concluded that Allura had been ambushed, then forced into this system, and finally, crashed, subdued by the laser blasts.

Night placed Gold down on the overhang tentatively, afraid the ledge would crumble suddenly and send Blue, Gold, and Allura plummeting into the flaming lava. And that would not be good.

She tried to look into Blue through the eye-windows, but they were covered, probably damaged by the heat.

The only way to check on Allura is to get out of Gold. And I really don't want to do that...

She had to. Night put on her helmet and climbed out of her Lion. She was hit with a wave of heat.

Holy quiznak. That has to be more than enough to cook a cheese blintz...

Night was already sweating through her armor, something Lance declared impossible last week. She began the burning walk towards Blue. The ground was obsidian, probably formed out of the lava somehow. Shards caught at her feet, and Night tried not to trip into the molten rock below her.

After what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, Night reached Blue. The damage was actually... not that bad. The damaged tail would need to be replaced, but Pidge would always brag about how much scaultrite they had on hand. Blue's leg was just bent out of position, and a simple movement would probably lock it back into place. Probably.

She used her jetpack to get up to the top of Blue's head, where Night had an amazing and/or terrifying view of the sea of lava below her. She slipped into the hatch and landed in the control pit.

"Allura?"

Night peeked around the pilot's chair, and almost shrieked with relief.

Allura was there. Unconscious, but there. The Altean was slumped over in her seat, probably knocked out from the crash. Night ran over to Allura and raised her head.

No cuts... Good... Just a minor bruise. Alright. She's not seriously injured.

Allura stirred, and Night jumped back.

"What... happened? Night?"

Night took a step forward, checking once again to make sure Allura was really okay. "Don't move. You might be injured."

Allura froze. "What really happened, though?"

"Um... Well... you went missing," Night explained. "So I went and looked for you. Based on your surroundings, there was an ambush-"

"Wait, wait, wait. You. You came to look for me?" Allura frowned.

Night crossed her arms. "Yeah... Why?"

"Never mind. I-" The Blue Paladin fell unconscious, again.

Great.

Night remembered Blue's leg. Maybe if she could fix it, then use Gold to carry her back to the castle, Allura would be safe there. She grabbed the bar controls, then remembered only the chosen could fly a lion at any given time.

Quiznak!

Please, Night pleaded with Blue. My team-mate is in danger, and I need to get back to safety.

Nothing happened, and Night growled in frustration. Allura slumped lower in her seat. Night had an idea. She grabbed Allura's hands, which were ice cold. Probably not a good sign. She placed hers and Allura's hands over the controls again, and tried to use her team bonds or whatever.

Blue. Please answer me. Allura is in danger. I need to be able to fly you to get to safety.

Blue rumbled in response, but did nothing else. Night let go, clenching her jaw, angry.

Blue. I'm begging you. Please, help me save Allura. Please.

The Lion turned on fully, but Night knew she would have to get the leg fixed. There was... something like a time limit?

Night picked up Allura, who wasn't heavy at all, and placed her gently on the ground, in a comfortable position. She took her place in the chair and pretended she was flying Gold.

Alright. Just fixing a leg. No big deal. Not at all.

Night pushed the left lever forward, expecting the leg to click back into place. That was the control for the leg, after all. But nothing happened.

What?

Instead, Blue fired off a round of jaw shots, carving another valley into the spire.

Whoops. What lever is it, then? These controls aren't the same as Gold's.

Night tried the other lever, and this time, Blue tried to raise herself to her full height, and with this, the displaced leg creaked, shoving itself back into place. There was a loud clink, signifying the leg was fully in place.

Alright. One impossible task done, only, like, a lot more.

Night placed Allura back in the chair, making sure she wouldn't fly out during their race back to the castle, then hopped out of Blue, back into the searing heat.

To Night's surprise, nothing had changed while she was away. She had been expecting Gold to have been covered in lava or something, maybe there would be a huge boulder in her way.

Night's foot caught on something on the way back. An obsidian pendant on a leather chain, just lying on the plateau. It gleamed in the hazy light.

Cool.

She picked it up gingerly, expecting it to be hot, but it was not. The pendant was inscribed with a symbol Night didn't recognize, in another language, but she slipped it on and climbed back into Gold. Night sighed with relief as she slipped back into her familiar pilot's chair. She raised herself into the air and hovered over Blue, placing her claws on Blue's back.

Night pushed Gold upwards, and Blue rose with them. Just in case, she activated the magnetic field on the paws, to make sure there was extra grip. Hunk liked to call the magnet pads, "toe beans". Whatever that meant...

No one would ever forgive me if I dropped the princess into lava.

"Alright. Everything is going to be okay. Let's get you back to the castle, Allura."

Night tried not to jar Blue too much as the odd-looking duo weaved in between battle cruisers. She tried to hold off the Galra with the lighting dragon, but the dragon only did so much before it dissipated again, and summoning dragons took a lot of Night and Gold's energy.

She soared over the main ship again, trying to drop a burst of lighting down on it, but there was some sort of force field intercepting all of her shots, which, without the barrier, surely would have destroyed the ships.

"Come on, Gold. Can you go any faster?"

Apparently not. Night was already blasting at full speed; everything was a blur behind her. Somehow, she managed to make it back to the castle in one piece. She was lucky. If Night had waited any longer, the planet would have been spotted by a Galra ship, and that would have been very bad.

Night pulled into the dock, placing down Blue first, then landing Gold down next to Blue. She leapt out of Gold so fast, she got lightheaded from the gravity change.

"Allura!" Night scrambled up Blue, racing down into the hatch.

She slid into the cockpit and skidded around to the pilot's chair. Allura was still there, still unconscious.

Oh, thank the gods. She's okay.

"Guys!" Night contacted the others. "I found Allura, and she's fine. She crashed on a planet and knocked herself out, so I brought her back to the castle and now I'm gonna bring her back to the medical bay so she can heal."

Keith was the first to respond. "Ok, great. It's been a little tough without you, so hurry back. Will Allura still be able to fly?"

"Um, I don't know." Night looked at Allura.

Allura suddenly woke up. "I'll fly."

Night jumped back, startled. "How did you hear that conversation?"

"I've been awake just after you landed," The princess explained. "But I wanted to see what you would do, so I faked unconsciousness."

"You what?" Night groaned.

Allura shrugged. "It's fine. I'm fine. So yeah. Let's fly."

"Are you sure? Last time I checked, you were unconscious and delirious." Night bristled at Allura, hostile.

"I'm fine," Allura insisted. "Just let me fly. We're wasting time."

Night narrowed her eyes apprehensively. "Ok, fine. But if you faint in the middle of battle, let me say, I told you so."

Allura's eyes lit up at the thought of a "challenge".

"It's a deal, then." She announced. "Let's go."

Night and Allura sped back out of the castle, Allura none the worse for her brush with near death.

"Alright, where are the others?" Night veered out of the way of a large ion cannon blast.

Allura followed in Blue, tailing close behind Night and laying down covering fire. "No idea. I'll do a sonar scan. Blue has a stronger radar than Gold."

Instead of firing an insult back at Allura, Night held her breath. "Sounds good."

Powerful sonar waves pulsed over Gold, making Night's ears hurt.

"I found them. They're on the other side of this asteroid system." Allura announced triumphantly.

Night nodded grimly. The system was dangerous to navigate, even with two experienced pilots, full of hidden rocks and obstacles.

Allura sped forwards, and Night followed tentatively, picking up speed as she grew closer.

She twisted around spires of rock, following the safest course which Allura set out for her. Night dipped into a fast dive under a large asteroid, spotting the wreckage of several ships around her. Allura pulled off a fancy flip to avoid a scattering of small asteroids.

Showoff!

Night simply weaved through the rocks, tucking in Gold's wings to prevent damage. Luckily, there were no Galra ships in here, or that would have been a real issue.

She saw the end of the system, and sighed with relief. Allura dove through a passage in a small, spiky planet, and Night followed, doing a fancy barrel roll.

"Alright! We're out. And I see Keith. Let's go."

Black leapt from ship to ship like a panther, slicing them in half with the jaw blade, then he spotted them and made his way over, explosions illuminating the ground behind Keith.

"Allura! Night! You're okay!"

Pidge deactivated her cloaking device and appeared right in front of Gold, making Night leap in her seat.

I had no idea Green could do that!

"Hey, Night! You're back. Thanks for rescuing Allura. Lance and Hunk did this amazing ambush, and took out half of Lotor's defense, so we're about to set up the final push!"

Night nodded enthusiastically, still on edge after doing all that fancy flying. "Okay, but where are they?"

Keith answered for Pidge. "They should be here any minute... In fact, here they are right now."

Red and Yellow burst through a cloud of space dust.

"Hunk! Night's back!" Lance announced.

Hunk pulled up right beside Gold. "Good to have you back. Next time, don't leave so soon. We were going to tell you what to do! And Lance got really concerned about you."

"I'm sure he was," Night smiled. "Anyways, what's the plan for this thing we're doing?"

"The plan is we're going to kick Lotor's tiny little Galra butt!" Lance yelled excitedly, making everyone lean away from the speakers.

Allura sighed. "The plan is; Lance will need to give us some more detail before we rush headfirst into battle. Right, Lance?"

"Um... Yeah!" Lance smiled. "So, Hunk's plan, and mine, because I came up with half of it,"

"It's called plan 'Burrito," by the way." Hunk added.

Lance nodded. "Yes. Plan Burrito. Roll the 'r's. We're going to head to this zone,"

A 3-D map popped up on Night's dashboard, indicating a zone just a few miles away.

"And we will take our positions."

Night's position was to hover above the main contact point.

"Then, once everyone is in position, I, Lance McClain, will head into the headquarters, saying we surrender."

So that's how we do things... Night rubbed her hands together at the thought of revenge. That's exactly what Lotor had done to her.

Lance continued. "So after my surrender message, I'll send a secret signal, which will be a holographic burrito that Pidge designed just for us."

"You made me do it." Pidge corrected.

Lance waved his hand. "Whatever. Once you get the burrito, you will attack your assigned zone."

Night's zone was a few larger battle cruisers, and the North end of Lotor's headquarters.

"So this it, like the endgame," She asked. "The final one? The big hit?"

"If everything works. And once we start our attack, everything will erupt into chaos. So be careful. And don't die." Keith said, pointedly.

Night winced.

"Alright. Didn't need to make it sound to morbid, but I think I get it."

"Okay, then. Paladins of Voltron, are you ready?"

Five steely We're ready's answered Keith's call."

"So we're ready. Let's take down the Galra empire, once and for all."


	14. Showdown

Night flew next to Keith, twisting and turning around Lotor's main battle cruiser. Pidge had planned a complex route for them to take, doubling or tripling back about five times to confuse and elude Lotor. The confusing path was programmed into Gold's central computer, and it displayed a glittering path on where Night was supposed to go.

Why did Pidge make this so hard?

She swooped under an asteroid and popped up. Night flipped upside down into a barrel roll, shooting back in the direction she just came.

Gold zipped by Yellow, who was spiralling around in a circle.

"Hunk, what are you doing?!" Night followed the path around a ring of ice planets, watching Hunk.

"I honestly have no idea," Hunk pulled out of the spiral to a steep climb. "Pidge's plan is kind of crazy." He dipped back into a dive.

Night flipped into a sharp corkscrew, then turned to the right and zigzagged wildly through the galaxy. "You can say that again. But don't."

"What's the point of this... plan... anyways?" Hunk slipped into another dive, plummeting down, then zooming off in the other direction. A few seconds later, Yellow came speeding back towards Night, who was busy circling around a planet.

"I think it would be suspicious if we just hurtled towards Lotor's base and told him we surrender. We have to give him glimpses of us, so he knows we're nearby, then come in." Night explained, leaping from rock to rock as the stupid line instructed.

Hunk followed her, leaping up and down, too. "Oh... got it. But what's the point of doing all these fancy tricks out here if Lotor can't even see us?"

Night dropped straight through a hole in the asteroid, and looped around it for another asteroid run. "I have no idea. Maybe he's tracking us, and if we're spiralling everywhere, he'll think we're being chased or something?"

"That sounds about right," Hunk corkscrewed, almost smashing into Night. "And dangerous."

They split ways, and Night was left to dart in and out of a cloud of space dust, alone.

The path ended after five minutes of rolling around in the dust, and Night was in her position for plan Burrito.

Dust cleared, and Night barely spotted the others, ready for Burrito to go down. She saw Red, slowly approaching. Night kind of felt bad for Lance.

He was placing such a big responsibility on himself, making Red vulnerable to all attacks for this plan, plan Burrito, to work. Lance could be selfless when he really put his mind to things, fearless and determined.

"Alright, team, I'm approaching the surrender point. Pidge, get on Lotor's radio stream, please."

Night heard Pidge programming something on the computer. Multiple blips and beeps sounded over the communication link, along with the occasional curse.

"Alright, Lance. You're in. We won't be able to hear you, so, good luck."

"Good luck, McClain." Night added.

"Yeah, Lance," Keith began. "Be careful, okay?"

Red drifted even closer to Lotor's huge cruiser. The defending ships opened fire, but Lance weaved around the shots easily.

Thank the gods he's in Red.

The ships ceased fire, instead forming a defensive line.

"It worked." Night said, letting out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Pidge peered over from her position. Where she was, her line of sight was completely blocked besides a small sliver where Pidge could see.

"We don't know that yet. Wait for the burrito."

Night sank lower in her chair, waiting. It seemed like forever. She was generally a very impatient person. Really impatient. Night shared her impatience with Keith, but unlike Keith, she was much better at hiding it.

She laced her fingers together, trying to distract herself from the fact that there was probably going to be a major battle soon and she might die.

Hurry up, Lance.

Night turned to the communication link. She heard the other paladins trying to keep themselves busy, too. Night listened to Hunk mutter something about six inch chef knives under his breath, Pidge scroll through lines of code, trying to update the cloaking device. Keith was silent, probably lost in thought.

Suddenly, the burrito popped up on her dashboard, and she yelled in surprise. The hologram was accompanied by music.

Night took off to her next position.

"Pidge, is this thing supposed to have music?"

Green pulled into it's position, too, setting up an ambush with Hunk.

"Um... Yeah? I put that in when I was bored. It's supposed to make you feel better! Everyone gets a different song. Their favourite. I didn't know which kind of music you like, so... you kind of got a random one."

Night listened to the music while preparing another ambush with Black. She couldn't really make out the words... Something about being born to make history, destiny, and dancing on blades?

"Pidge, what song is this?"

Pidge shrugged. "Lance said you might like it. Don't ask me. Some soundtrack, I think."

"Okay..." Night spotted Black in position for another ambush.

Black whipped his tail, the official signal for let's go.

She pulled in parallel to Keith, and they flew side by side until they reached the first huge battle cruiser. Then they parted, each rolling to one side. Gold surfaced just under the battle cruiser and rammed into it with her sharp wings, cutting a large gash in the underbelly of the ship. Black joined her and together they took down the ship.

The music reached it's crescendo, and the melody soared. Night also soared up from the wreckage of the cruiser, Keith tailing her close behind.

"One down, only, like, a lot more to go!" Night smiled.

Keith turned to the left sharply. "Let's go find Lance."

"Alright," Gold followed. "Because you just can't stay away from him."

After taking down a few more cruisers with the same method, which Night liked to call the Dive and Slash, they met up with Lance, just outside the East quadrant of the headquarters.

"Hey guys..." Lance sounded slightly shaken up.

Night zipped right up beside him. "What's up? How did it go?"

"Yeah," Keith flanked Lance on the left. "And why do you sound so traumatized?"

"Lotor's voice is absolutely disgusting! I come in with my surrender message and the first thing he says is, 'I hope you accept your defeat'! What kind of guy is this person?" Lance yelled, recounting his experience.

"Okay, okay. We don't need a full news report," Night warned. "We still have stuff to do, remember?"

The trio dove down, back into the battlefield. She spotted Pidge and Hunk taking down a fleet of ships, much stronger than them. But due to Yellow's heavy armor, and Pidge's legendary tactics, the strong ships were no problem for them. Almost no problem. Hunk nearly got Yellow decapitated by an Ion cannon blast, but Pidge shoved him out of the way, taking some of the blast for herself. Green spun out of control for a moment, but quickly recovered and began to set up another ambush again.

Keith pointed something interesting out. "Guys! Lotor's ship is exposed. I can get in there. I'm going."

He broke formation, ready to dive in.

"Keith, you can't!" Night protested.

Lance agreed. "Yeah! We need to stick together. We're a team, remember?"

"But this is my only chance! I need to! Just let me go, Lance!"

Everyone heard Keith's yelling and tried to reason with him.

"Keith, you can't!"

"Please don't."

Keith growled in frustration. "Let me go, guys. I'll be fine!"

"You better be." Night muttered. "I'm coming with you."

"WHAT?" Everyone shouted at once.

Night nodded bravely. "As Keith said. This is an opportunity. If we don't take it, who knows what will happen? I have to. Please."

Everyone murmured, some refusing, some agreeing.

"I think they should go."

"What if we need to form Voltron?"

"What if they need help?"

The conversations bled into one another, blurring into a single drone of sound to Night. She looked over at Keith, who had his head in his hands. Thinking hard.

"Keith." Night tried to get his attention, and it worked. He sat up, looking around. "We should go, now."

"We can't just sneak away from the others!" Keith pointed out.

Night crossed her arms. "You just suggested we do."

"No, I said I should go. It's too dangerous for you."

"Why would it be dangerous for me and not for you?" Night soared up to Keith's side.

Keith sighed. "Fine. But really, be careful. I can't risk losing anyone."

"Alright, fine," Night soared into the vulnerable opening, Keith following close behind. "But we're all in this together."

They neared the headquarters, outside a small loading dock. Night growled. "We're going to have to go inside?"

Keith nodded grimly. "That's right. Dock Gold over there. It's hidden well enough."

Black pulled up onto a tiny ledge on the edge of the ship, leaving just enough room for Gold.

They climbed out of their respective lions and drifted down to the loading dock. Night's heart wouldn't stop pounding, and all her senses were on the highest alert ever. Any tiny sound would make her head whip around.

Keith jumped down next to her, landing with a roll. He pulled out his bayard.

"Are you ready?" He looked at Night, voice laced with concern.

Night shook her head. "I'm never ready for anything like this. But let's go."

She summoned her bayard, feeling the familiar grip in her hands, and slashed a hole in the double doors of the loading dock. The metal fell away with an echoing clang, and the duo stepped inside.

They were in an empty hangar. No one was here, probably. The forces were all out fighting.

"It's empty," Night observed. "Is Lotor even here?"

Keith held his finger to his lips, telling Night to shut up. "I don't know. But we have to get to the main control room. Hurry up."

They slipped down the hall silently. By now, Night had the layout of Galra ships perfectly memorized.

How many times have I been in one of these?

The Headquarters were enormous, but the basic structure was like sticking 10 battle cruisers together.

Suddenly, with no warning, Keith tackled Night, bringing her to the floor around the corner. They tumbled behind a pillar.

"What was that for?" She whispered, rubbing her calf where she had smashed it on the column.

Keith remained silent, pointing to something. She held her breath as a sentry patrol walked by.

So the ship isn't deserted.

Keith and Night crept through the rest of the halls in complete silence, only exchanging concerned glances every so often. Their sneaking around was eerily quiet. Night was the first to find the control room. She placed her hand on the scanner, confident that her Galra blood would open the doors.

But it didn't work. She drew her hand back like she had been burned. Keith stepped forward quietly and placed his hand on the scanner. This time, the doors slid open with a small whoosh.

He has more Galra blood than I do, probably.

They crept inside, blending into the shadows. Night gripped her bayard tighter, hoping no one would see them until it was too late.

Keith stepped beside her, and they inched along the wall, painfully slow.

Keith gestured for her to be quiet, even though Night hadn't said a word for the past fifteen minutes. He poked his head up over the partition, and gasped. Night, overcome by curiosity, popped up beside Keith. He glared at her, but couldn't do much else.

Lotor was standing in the middle of the control room, surrounded by his comrades. They were giving a report on the battle.

"The paladins of Voltron have surrendered, sir."

Lotor grinned wickedly. "As suspected. Another victory for the Galra empire."

"Lotor, what shall we do now?" One member asked. "We have destroyed or recruited everything in this corner of the universe."

"Well, it's obvious. We wormhole to the other corners of the universe, and conquer or destroy." Lotor dragged his fingers down the curved blade at his side.

"Alright. I've prepared the teludav. We leave in fifteen minutes."

Night gasped, inside her head.

The ship is going to leave soon, and the other Paladins won't know?

She turned to Keith, panic burning in her eyes.

What do we do? She mouthed.

Keith whipped around. "We disable the wormhole and fight." He whispered, barely audible above the hum of the computers.

Night's eyes grew wide with disbelief. She narrowed her eyes at Keith.

"Are you insane?" Night murmured.

Keith shook his head. "No. First, you're going to throw your knife at the control panel. Right there. That will disable the teludav, giving us more time. Then we have to hack as much of the ship as we can to prevent fixing it. After that, it'll be a full out fight."

Yeah. Keith's finally lost it. Probably from all the gravitational changes in the environment. Or the black holes.

Night pulled out Cygnus and stared at it. "You're kidding me, right? That's an impossible throw. And I've only thrown this once."

Keith grabbed it from her. "Look. You're at the right angle. I'll never reach it from here. You know how to throw, right?"

Night shook her head slowly, taking the knife back from Keith.

He sighed. "Well, time to learn. Crash course. You want to hold it so your thumb is in the right place. Angle your wrist so it's not flopping over. And you want to throw it like you're pushing it forward. We're above the target, so it's a bit easier."

She gripped the knife like Keith told her to, unsure. "Like this?"

Keith nodded. "Exactly like that." He pulled out his bayard, ready to fight. "Whenever you're ready."

Night would have waited forever if this stupid ship wasn't about to blast off and send them away into who knows where.

She shifted her position so she could throw without stabbing Keith in the face. Night readjusted her grip on the knife, feeling the countless layers of tape she had put on it, to make it more comfortable. She took another breath in, and let it out slowly.

You get one chance, Night. Don't screw it up.

Night lined the tip of the blade up with the control panel, took a deep breath, and threw it.

It seemed to fall in slow motion. The knife soared downwards, and buried itself three inches deep into the control panel, just at the rim. Night exhaled in relief.

The panel flashed red, then blanked out completely. The rest of the screens flickered out, too. All the sudden Keith was pushing her over the ledge.

"Go, go, GO!" He jumped down and extended his bayard into the crimson sword, scanning for Galra.

Night tumbled clumsily over the edge, landed painfully on her bottom, and pulled her knife out of the control panel, leaving a gaping hole where it was. She summoned her bayard, the double blades gleaming in the dim light.

"Keith!" Night whipped around, sheathing her knife at the same time. "Did it work?"

He was already at the control panel, destroying as much equipment as he could. "Cover me, Night!"

"There's no one h- NEVER MIND!" A squad of sentries burst through the doors, guns ablaze. Night rolled to the right to avoid the blasts, and after the initial round, ran at them, blades twirling.

"Coming through!" She cut down half the fighters, killed three more with a burst of lightning, and somehow managed to destroy one by just tripping it, where it fell and exploded

She squared off against the final four, and they rushed at her with precise timing. Night leapt out of the way, coming up behind them. She used the gold end of her blade to impale one, kicking the others into each other. Then she incinerated them all with more lightning.

"Keith? How's it going?" Night turned.

Keith looked up from violently stabbing computers. "Going good. We need to get out. Preferably, right now."

They dashed out into the hallway, only to be flanked by sentries on all sides.

"Great." Keith and Night both said at once.

They jumped into a fighting stance, back to back. The sentries surrounded the duo, but instead of fighting, they just stood there.

Keith frowned. "Um... what are they doing?"

Night poked one with the silver end of her blade experimentally. Nothing. She summoned a blast of lightning, taking out four fighters, and that seemed to put them into action.

The fighters rushed at them, but Night barely pulled off a backflip over the heads of the fighters. She landed low to the ground in a crouch, blade held high over her head.

Keith was not so lucky. He tried to roll out of the way, but got caught up among all the legs. The paladin did manage to trip a few, however. Night rushed over and knocked most of the fighters aside with a sweep of her blades.

Keith hopped up, and they both looked left and right for anymore threats.

"Keith, are you okay?" Night panted.

Keith nodded. "Yeah. Fine."

They ran down the hallway they came, encountering a few more sentries on the way. Night and Keith seemed to be the perfect fighting pair, working together flawlessly. They rolled around each other, used combination attacks, and even managed to coordinate Night's lightning strikes to Keith wouldn't get hurt.

Keith lead Night down a series of sharp turns, Night almost smashing her face into the wall a few times. She could run pretty fast, but compared to Keith's blazing speed, Night might as well have been a Kty'hiptan Shmocky.

"Keith, I think we took a wrong turn..." They were lost in a maze of identical hallways.

Keith shook his head. "No, I'm sure this is the right way."

"We turned left last time," Night protested. "I'm pretty sure we took a right."

"No, Night. We're going the right way." He sounded like he was trying to console a child.

Night glared at Keith. "Fine, but just let me say 'I told you so'."

They continued down the hallway to a set of huge double doors. The inscription above it was something Night could almost read.

"That says exit, doesn't it?" Keith asked, peering at the sign.

Night shrugged. "I have no idea. But the writing looks familiar. I think it says 'arena'. I saw those signs on Kty'hipta when I was a paid fighter."

"You fought for money?" Keith asked, taken aback.

Night nodded slowly. "Yeah... I needed the money. And that's where I learned to fight."

"Well, anyways," Keith continued. "I'm sure this is an exit."

She pressed her hand to the small scanner outside the door. "Let's find out."

The doors slid open, showing off a large, dark room.

"Not an exit!" Night declared proudly.

Keith sighed. "What is it, then?"

They stepped inside cautiously, and huge floodlights turned on, displaying them in the center of an expansive arena. A crowd of Galra cheered loudly, shaking the room with a thunderous noise.

"Told you it was an arena," Night muttered. "What are we even doing here?"

Keith drew his bayard. "Stay on guard."

"My subjects of the Galra empire." It was Lotor. He strode into the middle of the sandy expanse with them. "Here you see two young Paladins in their not-at-all natural habitat. The battle arena."

"What are you doing, Lotor?" Keith stepped forward.

Lotor shrugged. "Simple. By sneaking aboard our ship, you put everything in place."

"What?" Night summoned her bayard, cautious.

"Calm down, Nightshade. It's just another fight to the death. You're familiar with these, no?" He shot a cursory glance over at Night.

"A fight to the death?" Keith yelled.

"You heard me. To the death."


	15. One More Time

Keith grabbed Night's arm, pulling her behind him.

"Stay behind me." He growled, glaring daggers at Lotor.

Night shook him off. "No!"

"Night, listen to me," Keith pleaded while Lotor looked on with a cruel smile. "I can't let you get hurt!"

She ignored him, turning to Lotor instead. "Oi, Lotor! What's your catch in this battle?"

Lotor looked up from polishing his already shiny blade. "Catch?"

"Yeah, you know," Night stepped in front of Keith, planting the silver end of her blade in the ground. "What's your stupid trick this time? I know you're going to trick us."

"Well... losing this fight comes at a cost, if you don't die." Lotor shrugged.

Night raised an eyebrow, trying to forget the pounding of her heart. "And... that cost is?"

Lotor frowned at Night. "Well, besides death of course, we have this..."

He signlead to someone in the crowd, and a panel near the upper walls of the arena opened. Keith and Night squinted, trying to see inside. The metal door gave away to a glass partition, and she could see someone curled up inside.

Oh, gods. That's a person.

She swallowed down a wave of rage, trying to keep herself calm.

Who is that?

Night ran closer to the glass, craning her neck upwards. She waved Keith over frantically.

Her brain exploded with thoughts the minute she recognized who it was.

Night felt sick.

How? No. I'm imagining things... No, no, no, no, no!

"LANCE!" She screamed.

Keith ran over. "LANCE?"

Lance ran over to the glass, pressing his hand to it. Keith placed his hand over Lance's. Night choked back a sob.

"Lance. Listen to me," Keith pleaded. "We're going to get you out of here."

Lance shook his head. "No." His voice was muffled through the partition.

"Look at me. You're always so determined to win. What happened? Did they hurt you? How did you get here?" Keith pressed his face to the glass, trying to see the rest of the room.

Night glanced over a Lotor, who was watching the heartbreak unfold in front of him, a twisted, wrong smile on his face.

"After you left," Lance explained. "I went looking for you. I saw Gold and Black on the ridge, but got captured. They've taken Red, and put me here."

Night stabbed the glass with her bayard, but whatever material this barrier was, it rejected her blow. The blade bounced right off, and Night growled in frustration. "Lance, we're going to get you out of here."

Her bayard bounced off the wall, nearly decapitating Night. Lance and Keith sighed.

"Guys, listen," Lance looked up. "There's no point anymore. You can't win. Just leave me, and you guys live."

Keith gasped. "No... we're not letting you die. I would never do that."

"Yeah." Night nodded in agreement, picking up her blades.

Lotor laughed. "Are you guys done with the drama yet?"

Keith and Night glared at him, but there was no anger behind it. Only sadness.

"I lost my family to death like this," Night began. "I can't lose anyone else."

Keith sighed. "Same here. I'm not letting the Galra take another person I love."

Night blinked. Lance gasped. The whole arena seemed to hold it's breath, and everyone didn't move. Tension in the room was so tight, the air could have snapped.

She exhaled slowly, gripping her bayard tighter. Lance stared at Keith.

"If that's how it's going to be, Keith..."

Keith stared back, purple-black eyes almost spilling over with worry.

"Then fight for me." Lance finished.

Lotor strode towards them, waving his hand carelessly. "Are you guys finished?"

Night nodded, a steely look on her face. "Question is, are you?"

"Enough," Keith muttered. "Let's just get this done with."

"Ooh, so eager. That's Keith, always rushing headfirst into battles." Lotor taunted.

Night sighed. "Okay, okay, okay. Enough."

Lotor unsheathed his curved blade, and the arena lights glinted off it, showing off a razor-sharp edge. Night glared at the stupid weapon.

The trio crouched in a fighting stance, waiting. Keith stood next to Night, back to Lance. They waited, forever.

Who will make the first move?

Keith glanced at Night, a move that was barely noticeable, but Night knew what it meant.

Go. Now.

Night took a deep breath, feeling her shoulders rise and fall. She ran at Lotor, feinted right, then skidded narrowly to the left. Keith charged, blade held fiercely out to the right.

The battle was on.

Lotor deflected both their blows easily, to Night's surprise.

How does he defend two against one so well?

The crowd roared, making Night's head pound. Besides Lance's yelling, loud noises bothered her.

Lotor spun around, locking blades with Keith. She stabbed at the back of his exposed knee, but Lotor disengaged with Keith for a split second to deflect her blade.

Keith tried to catch Lotor in the chest, but quick as a cobra, Lotor was back. They danced around the arena, blades clashing together. The crowd grew restless, wanting action and blood.

Night flipped around, pointing her gold blade straight up. A bolt of lightning shot out, pushing Lotor back. Keith dodged the arc easily, accustomed to Night's powers.

The crowd went wild, some booing, and some cheering in excitement. Night spun her blades around, trying to trip up Lotor, but his agile feet wove around her.

She watched Keith batter Lotor with a heavy rain of blows, but it was futile. Lotor twisted and snapped his curved blade around easily, like is was effortless. Which it probably was for Lotor.

Night rushed into combat again, spinning and kicking, but she never landed a good hit on him. She saw Keith use his blade teleportation to confuse Lotor momentarily, but that too was useless.

Keith and Night looked at each other, and Night thought back to the spirit world.

That was the day my life changed.

They worked together, managing only one hit on Lotor, which he shook off; Keith's blade had barely grazed his chest.

Night spun her blades faster and faster, a whirlwind of gold and silver, but somehow Lotor withstood.

If only I had two! Oh, wait...

She concentrated, and felt the handle come apart. Night opened her eyes.

Keith was on the ground, barely fending off Lotor's vicious fighting style. Night held her two swords.

The crowd cheered, and Night wasn't sure if it was for her or for Lotor, who was currently kicking Keith's butt.

Both literally and figuratively.

Night charged at Lotor, and he turned his attention away from Keith. He reached out behind him and grabbed Night's left wrist, restricting the use of the silver blade. But he didn't know about the other. Night smashed the flat of the gold blade down on his wrist, and Lotor released Night.

Keith sprung up, wincing. He still battered Lotor with all he could.

They were now at the far end of the arena, right up against the wall. Lotor pulled a stupid trick and did some flashy bounce-off-the-wall thing, landing perfectly. Night backflipped over Lotor's head, trying to decapitate him. But Lotor ducked and at the same time, deflected another of Keith's strikes.

Yeesh, Night thought. Some people get more skill then they deserve.

She blazed by for another attack, but Lotor tripped her, and she skidded across the floor, rolling over the sand. Night lay there for a second, stunned. She sat up, shook the sand out of her hair, and shakily got to her feet.

Ow.

Night was just in time to see Keith get kicked aside (again) by Lotor. He flew over Night's head, and landed a few feet away, unmoving.

"Keith!" She pushed herself up with her weapon, and ran over.

He wasn't unconscious, just winded. But a long cut across his forehead showed that Lotor had gotten him. It was pretty deep, and Night frowned with worry.

This is the middle of a battle! I don't really have time for first aid.

She glanced up at Lotor, who was ignoring her, and instead, waving to his adoring fans. Night gagged.

Gross.

Night wiped most of the blood away, and Keith hissed.

"That hurts..."

"I know," Night retorted. "What did you expect?"

Keith frowned but said nothing more, he closed his eyes.

The cut was smaller than she expected, but once it was cleaned up a little, but it started bleeding again.

Great.

He rolled over, and Night gasped.

"Wait! Keith?"

No response.

"KEITH!" She shook him gently, waiting for a response.

Blood ran down his face, and onto her hands. She rubbed it off on her armour.

Please don't be dead... please... don't...be... dead...

She stood up again, a little weak in the knees.

Lotor turned, and brought out his blade again. Night sighed. She was tired. Frankly, it wasn't the verge-of-collapse exhaustion that Night had felt many times over in her life. It was the feeling she'd get when she had been standing in the kitchen for too long, cutting the same vegetables, frying the same things, over and over. It made her arms sore, and her eyes want to shut forever.

They locked blades again, two against one. Keith still lay on the ground, still not moving. The wound had bled out onto the sand, creating a pool of red against the pale yellow.

Are wounds supposed to bleed that much?

Night could feel herself losing technique, and resorted to sloppy moves and lame parries to keep herself alive.

I've only been fighting for twenty minutes? Why am I so tired?

Lotor on the other hand, only seemed to be getting more and more energetic as the fight progressed. He kept doing fancy, show-off moves, almost letting his guard down a few times. Almost.

Maybe I can summon the dragon?

She weaved her blades in a complex pattern, and the audience watched, confused. A spark jumped between the swords, and the dragon shot out.

Everyone in the stadium gasped.

She flung her blades towards Lotor, and the dragon careened wildly towards the Galra prince.

Why is it so clumsy? Night wondered.

Then it hit her. The dragon acted how Night was. She recalled her terrible skills, and exhaustion. Though it chased Lotor around the arena, it made no move to destroy him, and even seemed to be getting smaller by the minute.

She focused all of her energy on controlling the dragon, and it swooped around the arena, making some audience members duck in fear.

The dragon shot after Lotor with a bit more enthusiasm this time, but suddenly petered out.

Wait, what?

It vanished with a barely audible pop and was gone.

Lotor laughed, a sound that chilled her to her very core and made Night feel helpless and lost.

He rushed at her again, this time determined to finish her off. Night dropped to her knees, exhausted.

Just give up, Lance had said.

It would be so easy to. To give up. Let go. But she wouldn't.

As a last resort, she slammed both blades into the sandy expanse, and a shockwave rolled out from them. A rumble was heard, and the walls of the stadium shook with thunder. But it was making her tired, and Night shook with exertion. She had given much more than her body would take, and Night was on the verge of collapsing. Night groaned with pain; searing pain...

It's not supposed to hurt!

The more she thought that, the more it burned, until red spots danced at the edge of her vision.

Lotor was thrown off his feet, and landed in a crumpled heap far away from Night. The wave didn't effect Keith. He kind of just lay there. But the ceiling began to shake. Fracture lines spread out from it, creating a spiderweb of cracks. Everyone in the audience erputed into chaos.

The stadium lights went black, besides the one right above Night, highlighting and spotlighting her in a ghostly circle of light.

She crouched, still letting the waves come out of the blades. Night began to tremble, and for some reason, she heard DreamMaster speak.

Keep going! This is your power. The Thunder is what you have.

Thunder?

THUNDER.

The whole headquarters shook with... thunder, and Night imagined herself bringing down the roof. But that didn't happen.

The pain still didn't fade, and Night felt like she was being burnt and torn apart at the same time. Her hands slipped down her blades, cutting into her hands, but she kept going. Wouldn't give up. Never.

She yelled in determination, a final battle cry, pain taking her. A pillar of lightning shot out above her, taking form of a phoenix.

Night looked up through her tears, and gasped. It was not just a phoenix. It was The Phoenix. The one.

It flared it's wings skyward, illuminating the whole stadium. The Phoenix raised it's head towards the broken ceiling, and cried, a horrible, ear-shattering cry, with so much emotion Night had to collapse to the floor, still clutching her swords.

KATYA. The phoenix spoke.

"Yes?" She felt implied to reply, even thought her voice and body were crumbling.

TAKE THIS AS MY FINAL GIFT.

The Phoenix bent it's neck down towards Keith.

"Gift?" Night managed. She tasted blood in her mouth.

YES, GIFT. THE GIFT.

"What gift?" Night shouted weakly.

THE GIFT. GIFT OF LIFE.

"Gift of Life? Keith was dead?"

YES. THAT'S WHY YOU FOUGHT POORLY. PART OF YOU HAD BEEN EFFECTED, YOU JUST DID NOT KNOW. YOUR MIND BLOCKED IT OUT SO YOU COULD WIN.

The Phoenix dissipated with a huge burst of light.

"I... Keith?" Night broke down into tears again, shaking the blood off her palms. She sprinted over to him, and collapsed again, tired from just running a few meters.

"Night..." Keith opened his eyes.

Night checked for the cut on his head, but she saw nothing. "Keith."

"You're okay," Keith pointed out. "But you're hurt."

"You're the one to talk." Night laughed, an empty, hollow laugh.

Keith stood up shakily. "Where's Lance?"

Night ran over to the glass panel, and found now that she could shatter it quite easily with her swords.

Lance stumbled out, still in a daze from the light.

"Keith? You're okay!" Lance threw his arms around Keith, who didn't really know how to react.

"Hey, Lance, sorry to break your bonding moment, but we should probably get out of here."

The roof was about to collapse, caving in already.

"Good idea." Lance nodded. "Hold on." He untangled himself from Keith, who was still standing there in shock.

Lance frowned, in a rare face of concentration.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked.

There was no answer, because Red came smashing through the rest of the roof, opening his mouth and scooping the trio inside.

"That was efficient," Lance commented, once they were fully inside. "Now we're out of there."

Lotor's headquarters exploded in a glorious flash of light.

"Now that, I never thought I'd get to see." Night noted.

Keith nodded. "But we still have to get Gold and Black."

"You don't have to," Pidge announced, pulling Green up beside them. "I got them for you!" She and Hunk were carrying Gold and Black in a way very similar to how Night had carried Allura.

"I hear you defeated Lotor!" Hunk announced suddenly.

Night nodded. "Yeah. I think we did."

"That was a day I thought I never would come," Allura said, pulling into formation with Hunk and Pidge.

"Well, it came, and everyone is still alive!" Hunk grinned.

"Just barely..." Night sighed.

They all laughed, and flew back to the castle together.

"I want no trace of Galra in this system." Keith had announced as soon as they had gotten back.

"But we just got back!" Pidge had protested.

"Yeah!" Lance added. "And I need to pee!"

So Lance got to use the washroom, and now they were back, clearing out the system of the remaining Galra ships.

Night was working around the asteroid field where the battle had begun, shooting down stray ships she encountered. Considering the previous battles, this was a piece of Hunk's strawberry shortcake.

"Do I have to shoot the wreckage, too?" Night asked, spotting a ship smashed into the side of an asteroid.

"No," Keith sighed. "But do a bio-rhythm scan just in case. I think it'll tell you whether it's Galra or not."

"Okay." Night pressed the button, focusing the ray on the small crash.

It beeped, and the final diagnosis was...

Sign of life? It's... half Galra and half not?

"Keith? I got a hybrid thing. Half Galra."

"Oh great," Pidge laughed. "It's going to be Keith's aunt, right?" She snorted at her own joke.

"I'll just go check it out..." Night swooped down to the asteroid, reminding her of when she had to go rescue Allura.

She hopped out of Gold right after touching down on the small rock, and pulled out her bayard. Night approached the wreck, which appeared to be pretty recent. A smell of smoke alerted her that this indeed, was a very recent crash.

"Hello?"

Night walked towards the crash, looking for the main entrance port.

"Anybody here?"

A creak to her left made her whip around faster than you could measure.

A ghostly, dark figure stepped out of the shadows, and Night held her bayard out in front of her.

"Who are you?"

The figure was a man, who looked severely starved and sleep deprived. His hair was long, not as long as Night's but not as short as Pidge's, either.

The man laughed, which was weird for the situation.

Alright... maybe he's crazy.

"I should be asking you that." His voice was deep, but hoarse.

Okay. He doesn't seem dangerous.

Night ignored the question and brought out a hydration pack. She handed it to him, noting he was missing one arm. It appeared to have been replaced with a metal prosthetic.

The man gulped it down hungrily. "Where'd you get this? These are rare nowadays."

Night sat down on a twisted metal box. "Um... it was on my ship."

"Your ship, huh?" The man's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "You look a little young to be flying."

Oh, great. Should I tell him I'm a paladin of Voltron?

I won't. He might not like that. I hear some people are still against Voltron.

She noticed a necklace hanging around his thin neck. It looked like the pendant Night had found on the ice and fire planet.

"Can I see that...?" She pointed to the necklace.

The man shrugged, slipped it over his head, and handed it to her.

"You got any food?"

Night fished around in a slot in her armour and pulled out the smushed remains of a sandwich from breakfast today. He grabbed it out of her hands and gulped it down hungrily.

She turned the pendant over in her hands. It was shaped like downwards claw and was white, curving to the left. Night pulled out her pendant. That one was black, shaped like a right-curving black claw. They fit together perfectly. The white one also had a symbol inscribed on it. The symbols looked like the same language...

The man looked up from eating.

"What are you doing?"

She held out the interlocked pendants. "Did you lose the black one on a planet not far from here?"

He gasped. "No... I've always had the white one, since I was a kid, I think. But the black one, I've never seen it before."

"But they're the same," She breathed. "How? And how did you get here?"

"Well, to answer your second question, I was a stowaway on a Galra ship, until some fleet decides to strike battle and smash me into this rock here. I got captured. You've heard of the Galra, no?"

Night nodded. "Yes, I have."

"Well, every space pilot out here does, I guess." The man sighed.

"What do the lines on the pendant mean?" Night asked.

The man winced. "That's a little sensitive of a topic. I'll tell you what. Tell me who you are, and I'll tell you about the pendant."

Night sucked in a tight breath. "Um... okay?"

I hope that's the right choice...

"Well, go ahead."

Night pulled out her bayard, just in case.

"Have you heard of Voltron?"

The man's eyes lit up. "Defenders of the Universe."

"Well, I'm part of Voltron. A paladin."

"I see," The man smiled again. "They found a replacement."

"Replacement? What?"

"If I tell you about the pendant, that may give you some answers."

Night shifted in her hard seat. "Alright."

The man held up the white pendant. "This symbol is in a language you don't understand. But it means the word white."

"Great name." Night looked at it. "Very fitting."

"Alright then. The word white in that language is important to me... can you guess why?"

Night blinked. "Um... no?"

"It's my name." The man nodded.

"Your name is White?" Night frowned. "Okay?"

"No, that's not my name. Remember, it's a different language."

"Um, I don't know that language. I only speak Korean, English, some Kty'hiptan, and I can say Merry Christmas in Spanish."

"Korean?"

"Um... Yeah? Anyways, then what's your name?"

The man paused, and took a deep breath.

"Shiro. My name is Shiro."


	16. Home Again

Night perched on the ledge of a rare window on the Castle of Lions. She was alone.

It had been five days since the final battle, but her mind was still reeling with so many thoughts.

Everyone was okay, thank goodness. Besides a few minor wounds, no one had been seriously hurt. And that person she had rescued...

Who was he?

Shiro.

Everyone had freaked out on Shiro's arrival, but always told Night, "We'll tell you later."

Is there something I don't know?

Shiro was fine besides the fact he was starving to death (literally) and severely emaciated, but otherwise, his eyes were bright as ever as he told the five paladins about his adventures before he found them.

"So, I steal the Galra fighter and escape my prison, and catch a glimpse of Voltron. That was the key. So, I follow that direction, for what? Six days? My air supply, well, all supplies really, were running low, so I knew I was nearing the end... But all of the sudden, I'm in the middle of a battle. All these battle cruisers speed past me, so I think, what the heck is going on? Then I see this giant gold thing, and it smashes me into the side of an asteroid and tries to shoot me with lightning. So, I crash onto the stupid rock, and just hunker down, trying to stay warm and alive in the last hours of my life. But then the same giant gold thing, which I can see is a lion now, comes and rescues me with some random girl."

That was Shiro's account of what happened, anyways. Night had rescued Shiro from the brink of death. It turns out he was a former Paladin of Voltron until another key battle when he mysteriously disappeared. That was when they had decided to bring out Gold and replace him. So, Night was a replacement.

"So... you were a Paladin, huh?" Night had asked.

Shiro laughed. "Not just any Paladin. I was the leader of Voltron. I flew the Black lion, before Keith took over for me."

"Wait," Night kept asking so many questions. "So, Lance used to fly... Blue?"

Shiro nodded politely and waited for Night to finish peppering him with questions. Which was quite a while.

After about two hours of talking with Shiro, she had figured out basically his whole life. And the mystery of the pendants.

It turns out Shiro had been given both from someone on his home planet, Earth.

Every Paladin here was from Earth. Even herself, Night figured. Keith said she was born there. Shiro had lost the black pendant when he had been captured by the Galra for the first time, two and a half years ago.

Now, Night had the black pendant, which Shiro said she could keep. She wound it around her bayard, and let the black teardrop shape dangle free. The jewelry would transfer to the actual weapon when her bayard would transform, too. Which was nice.

It was so quiet in the castle at this time. Everyone was still totally wiped from the battle, and even though it was just past dinner, all the paladins had retired to their rooms for the night.

She looked at her palms, which were still a mess of cuts from her twin blades. There was some bandaging around them, but as Lance had noted, it was hard to put any type of bandage on someone's palm.

Night traced her finger of one hand down the maze of cuts, recalling how she even got that injury.

The Phoenix.

As a last resort, she had summoned her double swords and slammed them into the ground. That created a huge shockwave, which in turn brought down the whole arena. It had also called down a huge Phoenix made of lightning, and that Phoenix had brought Keith back to life. Because apparently, he was dead.

Keith was fine, probably the best fared in the battle. He didn't even remember being dead. Or being resurrected, for that matter. Night hadn't told anyone about Keith being dead. She thought it might scare them.

What if that was all my imagination?

Night thought back to Lance. He had remembered seeing a huge flash of light, but that happened every time she summoned lightning. In his opinion, there was no huge Phoenix, no shockwave, no nothing.

But she was certain it had happened. It wasn't like a dream. She knew it was real. And Night had the scars to prove it.

Maybe no one remembered. It had been a chaotic day, and everyone was tired. Yeah, no one had remembered.

For sure.

She stared out into space, watching galaxies and star systems speed by. The teludav had been damaged in the fight, so they were flying home the long way. Allura had promised that now, since they had defeated the Galra empire, she would take them home, to Earth. As long as they didn't say a word about the Paladins and Altea, her home planet. She constantly asked Night if she wanted to go to Kty'hipta instead of Earth, but Night insisted that she go to her true home.

I'm actually going home...

Night had no idea what Earth looked like, or even where it was in the universe. When she had worked as a cargo pilot, she managed to memorize her galaxy and the seven stars surrounding it. Even that made her brain hurt with how many planets there were, and how big it was.

But when she searched it on the database, it took about three minutes to find Kty'hipta among the mess of the whole universe. And there wasn't even a hologram for it. The planet was classified as:

"Planet included in star system X1V28"

And the stars around her galaxy were part of that. The stars surrounded her galaxy, which everyone on Kty'hipta called "huge one," were just another small dot on the map.

I thought we were so big, but it turns out my second home was just an insignificant speck on the fabric of space and time.

She had searched the database for Earth after that.

It has to be big, if, like, all of us are from there.

But Night couldn't even find it. Only something called the Solar System, and she couldn't make any sense of that name.

So far, it was supposed to take five days to get to Earth, but there was no sign of this Solar System Lance was so excited to see. According to Pidge, Earth was the only place life existed according to some... humans... on her home planet.

That's a crazy idea!

Night had known there were others out there since... almost forever. On Kty'hipta, she traded and sent her cargo to all sorts of aliens from other planets. It was completely normal.

Hunk tried to explain to her that if people on Earth found out there was life other than themselves, they would freak and declare war on everything.

"Is it because they want to be the only ones alive in this universe?"

Hunk shook his head. "I think they're just afraid to admit the truth. There really are others out there, like you and the Galra. But that's a terrifying thought."

"I know," Night nodded. "Either we are alone, or we're not. And both thoughts are equally terrifying." She said, quoting Pidge's poster on her bedroom wall.

The doors slid open, and Night was snapped back to the present. She fell off the window ledge and tumbled painfully to the floor.

"Oh. You're here."

Night looked up. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Lance sighed. "Alright, then, I was looking to be alone."

"Um," Night made a break for the door, stopping just in front of it. "I can leave, if you want."

"No, it's fine." Lance sank into one of the couches overlooking the window.

Night perched back on the window, the light from the nearby stars giving a pale glow to her face. "Can you believe we actually did it?"

"Did what?" He asked, playing with the hood on his green jacket.

Night sighed. "We defeated the Empire. Hopefully, forever."

"Oh, that," Lance turned around. "Yeah. It's kind of hard to believe."

They both thought for a minute.

"You know what Allura said? Before the battle?" Lance asked, breaking the silence.

Night nodded. "Your whole life has been gearing up to this moment? Yeah. Why?"

"If my whole life has been gearing up to this moment, then what do I do now?" Lance wondered.

She laughed. "You always overthink these things."

"No, I don't! But really, what do I do now?" There was a faraway look in Lance's eyes.

Night shrugged. "Well, you go back to that school, the Garrison, finish your training, and carry out your life dream!"

Lance's eyes widened. "I can't go back to that school!"

"Why?" Night frowned. "It sounds like a cool school. I mean, where you learn to fly and all that!"

"Well, I was kind of failing all my classes..." He admitted.

Night sighed. "Yeah, I could kind of see that coming."

"Yeah." Lance muttered.

She snapped her fingers, making him jump. "Hey! You know what?"

Lance looked up at her. "What?"

"Now that you've been missing for a long time, and you've been flying a giant lion," Night explained rapidly. "You'll have super good flying skills, and second, just invent a huge story of how you saved something or got stranded on a planet and had to survive. Something like that."

He nodded, thinking. "Well, I guess that would be half true. What would you do?"

"Go to the Garrison with Keith, of course!" She said proudly.

Look at me, voluntarily sacrificing myself to education!

Lance raised his finger pointedly. "Ah... you could go to the Garrison... but not with Keith."

"Why? Did he graduate already? Or is he training somewhere else?"

"Well, sad story," Lance explained. "He got kicked out."

"WHAT?" Night cried.

Lance shrugged. "Um, yeah. He got kicked out."

"No, what did he do?" Night asked, waving her arms around.

He sighed. "I have no idea. He says it was a disciplinary issue."

"Okay... I can see that happening with Keith." Night nodded slowly.

The doors slid open again. "Why are we talking about me?"

Keith strode to the center of the room and sat down next to Lance.

"Ahhh... just the Garrison." Night said.

Keith frowned. "Galaxy Garrison?"

"Yeah," Lance added. "Night wants to go."

"Well, you would have to do the entrance exam. It's not too hard, but I have no idea what you learned on Kty'hipta."

Night shrugged. "A lot."

"Hey! By the time we get back, if we get back today, it will be a new school year! So, you can take the exam, get in, and join us!" Lance said excitedly.

She stared at the floor. "Well, what's the exam even on, anyways?"

Lance jumped up from the couch, and Keith stared in surprise. "Physics, the sciences, math, and a basic flight examination. Easy!"

Night jumped up from the ledge too. "That's it? I thought it would be super hard... like calculus and all that stuff."

Keith tapped Night on the shoulder. "How did you learn all this stuff when you were on another planet?"

"Well, before I left, I took a bunch of books off the shelf. A few of them happened to be math textbooks and other things like that. I was bored, so that's what I read when I had nothing to do." Night explained.

Lance frowned. "Wait. Let me get this straight. When did you learn all this advanced math stuff?"

Night thought back to sitting outside on the dewy grass, reading. "Mmm... I was about... fifteen?"

"You were fifteen?" Keith asked. "I'm, like, almost nineteen, and I still don't even understand geometry."

"What about you, Lance?" Night asked, turning to him.

Lance answered easily. "I'm seventeen! Turning eighteen in July."

Night laughed. "No, I meant, math. Have you learned calculus yet?"

"Why are we having a nerdy discussion about math?" Lance asked. "But anyways, we're supposed to learn that in second-year. I finished... half of my first year?"

"Oh man," Night muttered. "How much homework will you have?"

Keith interjected. "Not much. The second half of first year is focused on flying and fighting. I think you have plenty of experience with that, right, Lance?"

Lance nodded.

"Then I'm sure you'll do just fine." Keith reassured.

Night glanced out the window. They passed by a lone, icy grey planet. "What planet is that?"

Keith jumped up from the couch. "Holy Quiznak! That's Kerberos!"

"Kerberos?" She echoed, curious.

Lance ran to the window, making Night slide over so he could see. "It is! Kerberos is a planet pretty close to... Earth!"

I'm coming home!

Keith pressed his face to the glass. "Kerberos. We really are going home at last." He breathed.

Everyone apparently got the message they were passing by Kerberos (from Lance's yelling) and ran into the room.

"Kerberos!" Pidge shouted.

Shiro looked out the window. "Wow... I'm home."

"Oh my gosh!" Hunk squealed. "I can eat real food!"

They all sat down on the couches, chattering excitedly.

"Alright, guys. What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?" Shiro asked.

"Eat." Hunk said, right away.

Pidge thought. "Um... go to my family. I miss them, a lot. And I will still have to find... Matt..."

There was a moment of silence for Pidge's brother.

"Well, I'll actually have internet for the first time in months, so that means... Instagram!" Lance grinned.

Keith smiled. "I guess I can listen to all my music, now."

"I'll get to see what Earth is like." Night commented.

Pidge turned to Shiro. "What are you looking forward to, Shiro?"

"Hmm... let me think." He frowned. "Oh. I know. I can get my sanity back."

They all laughed.

Sanity. That's a great thing to have.

Pidge ran over to the window. "Guys! Look! Jupiter!"

They passed by the huge planet, and Night couldn't help but stare.

"We're almost home." Hunk sighed. "That was a long journey..."

The Paladins all shared memories of their time on Voltron, laughing and sighing over embarrassing moments and bonding ones, too.

"Remember the time we got stuck in the elevator?" Lance poked Keith in the side.

Keith groaned. "Don't even remind me."

"I remember when we had to hold the scaultrite crystals in place," Hunk added. "That was scary."

"Oh yeah... That was really, really, truly terrifying." Pidge recalled.

"And when Lance and Keith kept arguing over the probes?" Night smirked at Keith.

Shiro smiled. "We've come a long, long way. I'll never forget when you guys went to the space mall without me."

Sounds like they had a lot of fun...

They all laughed. "I think you would have been better off not coming to the mall with us, Shiro." Hunk pointed out.

The six paladins nodded.

"Guys! Look! Mars..." Pidge peered out the window, looking at the blood-red planet.

Lance shoved Pidge out of the way. "Let me see! Oh... wow... That means..."

"We're really home." Keith finished.

They passed by Mars, and Night got a good look at the discarded probes and robots on the planet.

"Are those... probes?"

"Yeah," Shiro nodded. "A few years back, Earth sent a lot of things to this planet. They were looking for signs of life."

"But they just left them there!?" Night protested.

Hunk sighed. "Earth still has a long way to go in terms of sustainability and technology. Maybe you can teach them a thing or two about that."

"Speaking of Earth..." Keith stood next to Lance, and a blue, marbled planet soared into view.

Everyone crowded around the window. The Castle flew closer, and Night could see satellites and a lone moon. Earth was mostly blue, splashed with greens, browns, and yellows, and swirled with white clouds.

"It's beautiful," Night breathed. "My true home."

Allura brought the ship to a stop, and they hung suspended above the planet.

"Well, that's the end of a very long journey." Lance announced.

Night shook her head.

"End? No, guys, this is just the beginning. The beginning of something big."


	17. Epilogue

Night pulled at the edge of her Galaxy Garrison uniform, shifting in her seat. She clutched her diploma in one hand, the edge of her seat in the other.

The last two years had gone by in a whirlwind for Night. Back on Earth, Shiro had signed her up for the entrance exam, also getting a scholarship for Keith to re-enter the Garrison. They both got into the academy, beginning their courses.

After that, Night gotten assigned a flight group, which thankfully was Keith, Lance, and her. Then the school year was on, and Night was off.

Now she was graduating. Second year, at least. She still had one more year to go, but so far, she was doing well. Night had passed Flight with flying colors, surpassed all expectations in Fighting, and barely made it by in Math and Physics.

She glanced at Pidge and Lance, who were sitting down the row from her on her right. Keith and Hunk were on her left. For her first year on earth, Night had stayed at Pidge's house, but now she rented an apartment pretty similar to her old one on Kty'hipta half an hour away from here. Since the Garrison provided boarding, it wasn't a big deal to find somewhere to live.

Pidge grinned at her, leaning forward in her seat.

Awards? She mouthed.

Night shrugged. Soon, I guess. She replied.

Pidge snapped her gaze back to the stage, where the headmaster was approaching the podium. Night crossed her fingers.

I hope one of the Paladins win an award.

The headmaster spoke. Night was reminded of King Kytha. But the headmaster looked... grumpier. And a lot older.

"And as we bring a close to the school year, I'd like to give a few awards to promising students in one category, chosen by the Executive Council."

Night sucked in a breath. Each graduating year, they would select one category from Flight, Math, or Engineering, and give awards for proficiency in that category. Last years had been Engineering, and as everyone predicted, Hunk had won that easily.

So that leaves us with Math and Flight. I hope it's not Math. That would suck. None of us would have a chance. Besides Pidge.

All the students in the hall started murmuring quietly, discussing who would win. Night was pretty sure she saw two students exchange bets.

"Alright, if we could have silence, please." Everyone shut up immediately. It would really ruin your report if you got a demerit on the last day of school. "Thank you. Our category for this year is... Flight."

Yes!

Night looked excitedly over at Lance, who grinned back.

"Okay. We begin with the Most Promising Male Pilot of the Year. This award was first given to a prestigious student in the year of..."

The headmaster rambled on about the history of the award, and Night stifled a yawn.

We get it, already. I thought once school was over we wouldn't have lectures...

The headmaster finished his lecture. "This year, the award goes to second year, fighter class pilot, Keith Kogane."

The hall burst into applause and cheers, Night and her friends cheering the loudest. Keith stood up slowly and made his way to the stage, overwhelmed by the applause. He stepped onto the stage, into the glaring lights. The headmaster passed him a plaque with countless names inscribed onto it. Night was pretty sure Shiro was on there. Keith gently took the award and gazed out into the audience. Then he turned to leave.

"Wait, wait, don't leave just yet. We'll need to do a group photo of all the winners after this."

Keith stopped and strode back to his spot awkwardly, grinning sheepishly.

The headmaster cleared his throat. "Now, for our Most Promising Female Pilot of the Year, we also have second year, fighter class pilot..."

Night glanced at Pidge before remembering that no one besides the Paladins knew she was a girl.

"Katya 'Nightshade' Kogane!"

The hall once again burst into cheers and clapping. Night gasped.

Me?

Lance pushed her out of her seat, cheering. He patted her on the back and gently shoved her into the aisle. Her heart pounding, she strode down the aisle and up to the stage, where Night shakily climbed the steps. She walked forward, and the headmaster handed her another plaque. It had her name inscribed on it, too.

Night stood next to Keith, and Keith looked at her and smiled. The photographer snapped a photo, and the crowd kept cheering for both of them. Night clutched the plaque to her chest, smiling. She spotted Lance, Hunk, and Pidge's face among the crowd, them all cheering for Keith and Night.

Night gazed out over the crowd, into the flashing lights.

Most promising pilot, huh? I like the sound of that one.


End file.
